Looking Back to Move Forward
by WritingIsFromTheHeart
Summary: That's it, I whip the back of my hand hard across his cheek, and I mean really hard, you could hear the slap hit him. His head falls to one side and he takes a step back. I basically punched him, but in slap form. Sequel to I Promise. Seddie. R
1. Chapter 1

**I know this took awhile to get up, but I did not know how to start this. Now that I have, updates should be happening faster. This is a sequel to I Promise.**

**Enjoy!**

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Five days

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5 days. That is how long it has been since Freddie and I rescued Carly and I almost died. It is strange to think about. That I almost died, it brings back all the emotion I was feeling in that moment. I ended up getting 12 stitches for my forehead, my upper body is also wrapped up because of the intense bruising on my stomach and back. I did not break any bones so that's good. I ended up sleeping in the hospital for two days straight just out of pure exhaustion. When I woke up, I saw Carly sitting right next to me, holding my hand. It was 11am on Tuesday, so I knew she skipped school. The cut on Carly's eyebrow has almost healed and her few bruises are fading, Freddie… well nerd boy did not even get hurt, so hooray for him, and Spencer was released from police custody; slowly things are going back to normal. We haven't even spoken about the whole ordeal yet. Everyone has been putting it off, even me. It is painful to look back sometimes, but I know we need to talk about it, I want to know more.

I'm lying here on Carly's couch, I haven't been able to sleep well since I got out of the hospital. I don't know why, I guess I'm still not believing that the men are gone for good. I just keep expecting them to barge in and ruin everything again. Carly keeps asking if I want to sleep in her room, but I always say I'm fine on the couch. I know Carly has forgiven me, she forgave me the second I showed up at that window, but I can't forgive myself. I was sleeping on this couch when Carly first got kidnapped, now I feel that I need to be here watching the door. I set my phone to it's highest volume, just in case. I guess I have gotten a little paranoid, but I just don't want anything like this to happen again.

"Morin Sam" Spencer says, walking into the kitchen.

"Hey Spence" I say.

"You are awake early for being Sam and all" He says.

"Couldn't sleep" I say. I know Carly and Spencer are getting concerned with me not sleeping and everything, but I'm fine.

"Hey, you're up" I hear Carly say coming down the stairs.

"Yup" I say and begin to lift myself from the couch. I start to feel some pain because of how sore and stiff my back is. I slowly make my way towards the kitchen. I slowly sit down on the chair and take deep breaths.

"You okay?" Carly asks.

"Fine, just hurts still" I say.

"Yea, well the doctor said it will take a few weeks before the bruises heal completely, but the pain should become less each day." Spencer says, placing a plate full of pancakes and bacon on the table. Thanks for the update Spencer, as if I haven't heard the doctor myself, but I can't snap at him when he just put a giant plate of food in front of me.

"I don't like waiting" I say and start stuffing my face with bacon.

"Well it looks like the only thing that hasn't changed is your appetite Sam." Carly jokes. Its true. Actually I think l have been more in these past few days than I have ever been. I hear the door open and close. I don't turn around, too busy eating.

"Hey Freddie" Carly says.

"Morning Carly, Morin Sam" Freddie says.

"Sup Fredd-o?" I ask. Things have gotten different between me and Freddie. I haven't insulted him in awhile, he looks at me more now, in a way that he has never looked at me before; I've noticed. He saved my life and I showed him my softer side. I don't know if he thinks I'm weak now or what, but I'm still always going to be better than him.

"Nothing, just that my house is like a prison now." He says.

"Your mom still on heavy duty grounding mode?" Carly asks.

"Yes! She hardly let's me out of her sight and makes me check-in with her every 30 minutes!" Freddie says taking some pancakes. Man, I thought Freddie's mom was crazy before, but now she is insane. Though I don't blame her. I mean Freddie and I did break some laws, we "ran away", and put ourselves in dangerous situations, any parent would worry. Even Spencer has been more of a protective guardian lately. Cause that's what parents do right? My mom hasn't called once. I try not to let it get to me. I don't care is what I tell everyone, but I do. I know I will always have Spencer, Carly, and Freddie as my family, but a mother or a sibling are connected with you. I just want that connection, you know?

"She is just feeling worried" Carly says.

"I wish she wouldn't feel anything at all" Freddie says.

"No you don't" I say. They turn silent knowing I'm referring to my mom. I need to change the subject. "Speaking of feelings…… How were you Carly?"

"I'm doing great Sam" She says happily.

"No- no I mean how _were _you. You know when you were with those men?" I ask. Once again everything falls silent, I hear Carly sigh, and Freddie begins to say "Sam---", but I interrupt him.

"What? We need to talk about it someday." I say getting angry that they just want to ignore what happened.

"No" Carly says, "It is over now, we can just move on."

"Move on? We can't just move on! We haven't even talked about anything for the past three days and you cannot 'move on' unless YOU are completely over it, that you have accepted it. It is not like we are just going to forget any of this happened." I say.

"There is nothing to talk about." Carly says.

"How can you say that! Carly, we can't just forget this. I want to know what happened with you, if Freddie and I were close to finding you earlier, did you try to get away?, were you still mad at me?, did you blame me because I know I did. You all are thinking about how painful it is to look back, but it is going to be a heck of a lot harder to move on if we don't." I am angry, but not yelling. I stand up because I cannot sit here and watch them ignore this. I block out the pain that I get from standing up too fast. I turn around and walk up the stairs, keeping my face in a disappointed look; not showing them the pain. I get out of sight and let of a sigh of relief. These stairs are killing me, I should have taken the elevator. I reach the iCarly studio and slowly crash down on a beanbag. It is not the most comfortable position, due to how sore I am, but I don't care. I close my eyes. I feel like I have been lying here for hours, but when I look at the clock it has only been ten minutes.

"Hey" I turn slightly to see Freddie walk in.

"Hey" I say back, not really interested in talking with him.

"Sam….." He sighs.

"I know, I shouldn't have yelled at Carly like that, it was not fair…."

"No. You are right. We all need to talk about this…" He says. Finally someone who agrees with me, "but you need to understand how much this hurts Carly." At that moment I jump up from the beanbag and shout, "What about how much this has hurt me! How much this is still hurting me and it will keep hurting me for weeks, every time I move. I don't regret anything that we did to find Carly. It is just that Carly has been acting different around me now and I think she is blaming herself, which she shouldn't do. So I know if we just sit and talk, we can joke and laugh about everything. We can start over." I say, not even realizing the pain coursing through me. I can tell Freddie senses the pain I'm in because he gently grabs my hand and leads me to a normal chair.

"You should rest and sit on a chair that supports your back." He says.

"Yea, whatever." I quietly say. This does feel better than the beanbag though.

"If you want to talk, you can always talk to me." He says.

"Yea, but you were with me when we were trying to find Carly, I want to know Carly's side of the story." I say.

"And I want to know your's" Carly says walking into the room.

"What?" I say.

"I want to hear your's and Freddie's adventurous story and you are right, we have to talk about this." She says. Good, this is going to be entertaining. I know it.

"Okay, let's begin." I say. Freddie and Carly pull chairs around me. This is going to be an interesting day.

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**I hope you enjoyed it. It wasn't that much, but it was just to get started. Next chapter will begin flashbacks and every character's reaction.**

**~J**


	2. Three Kids, One Past Moment

**This chapter Carly and Freddie and Sam talk about the past, some of it is new things, like Carly's POV and some is stuff you read in I Promise expect for now Freddie tells you what he was feeling. I'm not putting memories or flashbacks in italics or anything because I think that that would just make it more confusing. I hope you can follow what is the past and what is the present. If you have questions, ask.**

**ENJOY!**

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Three Kids, One Past Moment

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"When I said you were ruining life, I didn't mean it at all. I regretted saying it right after it did it." Carly begins to recall the story from the beginning.

"It's okay. And I shouldn't have let you go that mart alone, I just couldn't move." I say, remembering the moment.

"I know. So anyway I was at the mart, getting milk because we actually did need some. I was so sad and just thinking about our fight, Sam. Then the men walked in, they were kind of suspicious looking, but I just shrugged it off like it was nothing. Then the shots rang out and I remember just standing there, frozen with fear. I did not know what was going to happen, but I needed to call for help and it's funny because the first number I dial without even thinking about it….." Carly says.

"…. was mine." I say, interrupting her story.

"Yea. I knew you would come for me." She says.

"I should have had my phone on." I say.

"Sam, it is fine. I actually didn't expect you too." She says.

"Then why did you call me?" I ask.

"I don't know. I just know that if I am ever in trouble, you are always there to help. It was instinct, I guess." She says, "Anyway, where was I?……. ummmmmm….. Okay so one of the men grabs me and I start kicking and screaming. I was so afraid because I did not know what was going to happen. The next thing I know they threw me in the trunk of the car and drove off. I almost began hyperventilating, since I was cramped in a tight space and no idea what was going on……. I …. I thought I was going to die." Carly says.

"Carly…." Freddie says grabbing her hand. Geeeezzzzz Freddie.

"And the one thing I was worried about was saying goodbye." Carly continues, "We were driving for hours and I finally just fell asleep because of how tired I was. I end up waking up to someone opening the trunk. It was morning and I did not know where I was. It was the worst feeling ever, not knowing." She says.

"Yea, that morning was a shock for us too." Freddie says.

"How did you guys even find out?" Carly asks.

"It was on the news." He says.

"Yea, I remember waking up……. Freddie was calling my name, telling me to get up. Which I didn't." I say with a slight chuckle in the end.

"Typical." Carly says with a smile. She seems to be cheering up.

"Then I turned on the T.V. and searched the couch cushions for my phone. Next thing I know Spencer and Freddie say ' Oh my god' and I turn around to hear the news report of an unidentified 15 girl old girl being kidnapped at the grocery mart you were at. At that moment my heart dropped. I felt awful and I was begging that it was not you. My heart broke when I saw the footage of the break-in. Then Spencer turned off the T.V., he was on the verge of tears, and he ran out to the police station. I had never seen him like that and I felt responsible." I say.

"Poor Spencer." Carly says.

"Yea, I remember that I was so angry and confused, when I saw that tape. I didn't know why you were even there and I guess I took it all out on Sam. Calling you 'too lazy' and 'why was Carly there so late'. I didn't realize how hurtful that was. I'm sorry Sam. Then Sam said you guys got in a fight, I just could not think why this fight was a big deal. I was so scared for you, Carly. So I started listing off ideas of things to do to find you, when the phone call you made came up." Freddie says. EWWWW he is going all mushy on her. God Freddie, can you give it a rest? I know you were worried for her, I mean so was I, but you didn't have to put it so gaga.

"So then I listened to the voicemail and I have NEVER felt so stupid and hurt in my life. I should have woken up to the phone." I say.

"I couldn't believe it at first." Freddie says.

"I'm sorry I didn't even think how much that voicemail would hurt you guys." Carly says.

"No it's fine. It actually motivated us to work harder at finding you." I say.

"Okay, what happened next?" Carly asks, leaning in like it is some great secret.

"Oh, next….. Sam…. We…." Freddie begins to say. Oh no. What happened next is that I said it should have been me and Freddie yelled at me telling me to knock off my whole tough girl act. Is he going to tell Carly? It is not like it is bad thing, it is just Freddie and I have never gotten along , then at that moment I realized that he does really care for me.

"Next….. Sam said that we had to go to school." Freddie says, looking at me. Wow, he didn't tell her. That's impressive.

"Sam?! Said you guys had to go to school?!" Carly says almost laughing.

"Yep. I was in shock too." Freddie says with a smile.

"I never thought I'd see the day." Carly jokes.

"Then Sam got this brilliant idea to print out a picture from the robbery and hand them out with information about what happened." Freddie says. I can't help but smile at the fact that Freddie called me brilliant, well the idea anyway.

"Nah, It was nothing." I say.

"Are you kidding me? Sam it was a great idea!" Freddie says smiling. He can be so nice and cute sometimes. What? No Sam, focus.

"And the picture lead you to me?" Carly asks, not fully understanding.

"Not exactly. When we were printing them out I realized that some of the license plate of the car that took you was reflected in a mirror. At that moment I was so ecstatic that my heart began racing and I wanted to jump up with glee." He says. Glee? No one says that anymore. What a dork.

"That's awesome! It is like something that you would see in a movie." Carly says.

"I can't take all the credit, I mean it was Sam's idea to print out the photos in the first place." Freddie says, once again giving me the credit. He can be too sweet sometimes.

"If you think that is interesting, just wait, school got crazy." I say, "So I was at school handing out the flyers and you know all the stupid girls kept coming up to me saying 'they heard what happened' and 'are you okay' I swear I was going to punch the next person who said one of those things. Then I saw Freddie walking towards me with no more pictures, I thought maybe he ran out, but he had a lot when we separated……" I say.

"And I said Principal Franklin wanted to see us right now." Freddie says, cutting me off; but I do not mind. "We got to Principal Franklin's office and there were two cops in there with him. I was scared, yea haha funny right, but seriously I had never gotten into major trouble before, so I was worried. He told us that we were not allowed to hand out the pictures because it interfered with police business."

"What? That is so stupid." Carly says.

"I know! At that moment all my anger just came out. I yelled at Principal Franklin and at the idea that we could help find you, so I ran out of the office. I was just about at the doors when…. When Freddie called out my name. At first I thought he was going to tell me to listen to them because they threatened to expel us, but he actually said he was coming with me…." I say.

"We are in this together" Freddie and I say at the same time. I just look at him, he has a little grin on his face. Next in the story, ummmmmm let's see….. Then we hugged. Urggghhh….. Should I tell her? I think it would just be weird. Besides I don't want to make Freddie uncomfortable. In the moment it was just an immediate response because I really needed to hear that I was not alone, but now it would be different. Carly is known for jumping to conclusions and if I tell her this, she will probably expect for Freddie and I to never fight again, but that is never going to happen.

"You know at first I didn't think you would come Freddie." I say.

"You know what? I didn't think so myself, but seeing you run out of the office and how you didn't care what happened, that you just needed to find Carly. It got me to thinking that I would be a pretty awful friend if I just left you to go and search for Carly on your own. Plus I owed it to Carly, I mean I was worried about being expelled when you were out there with three crazy men. So before I even knew what was happening I run out of the office and follow Sam out the door." Freddie says. Huh? He left out the hug too. Why isn't he telling Carly everything? That is so not like him.

"Anyway, Carly what happened when the man opened the trunk?" I ask.

"Well the trunk opened and the guy grabs me by my hair and yanks me out. He gives me the deadliest stare ever, I was frozen with fear and he told me not to say as much as one word. At this point I was really sore from being crammed in a trunk all night, but I knew I needed to get away. I remember looking around in this alley in the back of some dinky motel. So I just kicked the guy straight in the shin and then kneed him in… well you know…. I turned and ran, not knowing what I was doing just that I had to back to you guys, but then someone just grabbed me and began dragging me back, he shoved me against the car. I thought it was one of the other men, but it was really this forty year old guy, that I had never seen. His name tag read 'The Mongery Motel Manager'." Carly says.

"Roy." Freddie and I say. Urrrghhh even saying his name makes me want to punch something.

"Roy?" Carly asks.

"The motel manager his name is Roy, he was the one that called us and said that he saw the car at his motel." Freddie says.

"Well duh, he saw the car. He was helping the men! I can't believe he would call you guys to try and confuse you. That one night in the motel was terrible, I was tied up in a corner just listening to them talk and joke, it was like a nightmare. I tried to look around to see if there was anyway that I could escape, but there wasn't. I felt like giving up. I lost control, tears started streaming down my face and I was so worried that I would never see you guys or anyone for that matter again. I don't even remember falling asleep, but when we checked out, I heard the men talking about how Roy called the two kids to stall them. Gosh, I never thought for a second that it was you two, not saying that I did not think you would come for me it is just that……"

"You thought it was impossible." I say.

"Yea. Then again they threw me back in the trunk and I heard the car start. I just felt so helpless and alone." Carly says.

"Stupid Roy, I hate him." I say.

"I know, hopefully the court will find him guilty and send him to prison with the other three." Freddie says.

"Why do they even have to have a trial? I mean they didn't have one for the other men." Carly asks.

"Because we don't have real hard core evidence against Roy. The three other men were caught in action, so it is not like they can plead innocent" Freddie answers.

"How did you guys get to the motel?" Carly asks.

"Well after we announced your kidnapping on iCarly, Spencer got arrested. Then Freddie and I had to sneak away from the cops and take a train to Kent." I say.

"You snuck away from the police?!" Carly asks, amazed for some reason. It is not that hard to do really.

"Sure did." Freddie says with pride in his voice.

"So you got on the train, then what?" Carly asks on the edge of her seat, like it is a suspenseful movie.

"Well then Fredward fell asleep on m-----" I say, but get interrupted by Spencer entering.

"Hey sorry to interrupt, but it is 11:30. We have to go get your bandages changed Sam." He says. Darn, that is the most annoying thing, that I have to go in and have the doctor's change my bandages every day.

"Kay, thanks" I say, he goes back down stairs.

"We can finish later" Carly says.

"Yup, let's go." I say. I try to stand, but I end up falling back down. Carly walks over and gently pulls me up from the chair and over to the elevator.

"Freddie, you can come too." Carly says. Yea right, I doubt Freddork would want to take a boring trip to the doctor's office for no reason, besides with his mom on lock down he won't even be able to go.

"I'd love too." Freddie says and follows us into the elevator. He looks at me and I know my face reads of confusion. "I mean that is only if it is okay with Sam." He says. Carly raises her eyebrow probably wondering why Freddie would even ask my permission. I hesitate before answering, it actually might not be so bad if Freddie was there.

"Yea. It's cool with me." I say. The elevator closes, this is a strange day already.

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**Hope you enjoyed!**

**~J**


	3. Exam Rooms

**First of all, I'm truly sorry I took so long to update. I have been thinking that I should have put this story as ON HIATUS, but never did. I know it as been a month, but my creative mind is like Blah right now. I have not had any inspiration lately, plus with school, I just had 5 state exams today; it got to be hard to study and write. **

**Well, here is Chapter 3. I hope you all enjoy! **

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Exam Rooms

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"_Hey sorry to interrupt, but it is 11:30. We have to go get your bandages changed Sam." He says. Darn, that is the most annoying thing, that I have to go in and have the doctor's change my bandages every day._

"_Kay, thanks" I say, he goes back down stairs._

"_We can finish later" Carly says._

"_Yup, let's go." I say. I try to stand, but I end up falling back down. Carly walks over and gently pulls me up from the chair and over to the elevator._

"_Freddie, you can come too." Carly says. Yea right, I doubt Freddork would want to take a boring trip to the doctor's office for no reason, besides with his mom on lock down he won't even be able to go._

"_I'd love too." Freddie says and follows us into the elevator. He looks at me and I know my face reads of confusion. "I mean that is only if it is okay with Sam." He says. Carly raises her eyebrow probably wondering why Freddie would even ask my permission. I hesitate before answering, it actually might not be so bad if Freddie was there._

"_Yea. It's cool with me." I say. The elevator closes, this is a strange day already._

"Urgghhhhh…… I'm so bored." I say. We have been waiting for the doctor to come in and change my bandages for 25 minutes now. The nurse was already in here, asking a bunch of questions, telling me to rate the pain I'm in. She said that she will see if she can get me some pain relievers. Carly, Freddie, and I are in the exam room, waiting. Spencer left after about one minute because he heard the hospital added four new sculptures to their courtyard, so he said he had to go check them out.

"Be patient. They look really busy today." Carly says.

"But it is taking for-EVER….." I whine, dragging out the words like a little kid. I see Freddie smile out of the corner of my eye. I'm lying on one of those patient bed-chair things with my legs hanging off the end. I begin to swing my legs around. I sometimes end up kicking the side of the chair, making a little thud noise. I can tell it is beginning to get on Carly and Freddie nerves, so I just continue.

"What are you doing?" Carly asks.

"Swinging my legs." I say simply.

"I can see that. Why?" She asks.

"Because this doctor is taking forever, I'm hungry, and you two are boring me." I say, looking at the ceiling.

"Well the doctor should be here soon, I'm going to find Spencer, and I saw a vending machine down the hall, so I will get you some FatCakes on my way back." Carly says, grabbing her purse. Crap! She is going to leave me with Freddie. This is going to be awkward, I mean the dork has hardly said anything since we got here. Then again this will give me time to ask why he left out our hug and the other stuff, when he told Carly about what happened.

"Cool. Thanks." I say. Carly smiles and walks out the door. I just stare up at the ceiling. Wow, this couldn't be any weirder. Why isn't he saying anything?! I sigh loudly to break the silence. I begin to fidget on the chair, one because I'm getting anxious and two because my back is starting to itch.

"Stop fidgeting. You need to relax." Freddie says. Finally, he speaks!

"Well relaxing is difficult when your back itches and it is painful to move." I say back. He gets up, walks over to me, and holds out his hand.

"Then sit up." He says. I wait a moment then grab his hand, he pulls me up, he places his other hand on my back. I'm sitting up now, Freddie and I are still "holding hands" I guess you could say. His hand is still on my back and he is just looking at me. Not in the checking you out kind of way, just in a caring way. I think he might be blushing. Nah, forget it. Come on Sam, its Freddie! What is wrong with you?!

"Hmmmmmm….. Thanks Freddie, I'm good."

"Oh yea." He lets go and I might be imagining this, but I swear I can see him blushing.

"Dude, are you blushing?!" I ask.

"Psssshhhh…….. No." He says, turning his face away from me. I smile brightly and start to feel giddy from excitement. This could get interesting.

"You've always been a terrible liar, Benson." I say.

"Not lying." He says.

"Okayyyyy…." I say. He turns back to me, "I was not blushing." He tries to say it convincingly, but I can see right through it.

"Awwwwwwwwww is little Freddie Benson embarrassed because he was caught blushing?" I tease. I don't even know why he was blushing in the first place. I mean you blush if you are feeling hot or shy or if you like someone------- No way, there is no way. This is Freddie, if anything he should be blushing around Carly, NOT me! Right?!

"I wasn't" Freddie says, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yes, you were." I say. I probably shouldn't keep taunting him with this, especially because I'm somewhat afraid of the reason why he was.

"Was not!" He yells playfully. I can tell he is no longer upset and now he is just goofing around.

"Was too!" I yell back. Man, we are bantering like little kids again. It is actually amusing.

"I was not blushing!" Freddie yells again, walking closer to me.

"You were too! And if you weren't, then why are you being all defensive about it!" I say with a smile.

"I'm not being defens----…….. Shut up." He says. Yes! I win again. He is never going to learn. I think I want to drag this out even more.

"Make me." I say jokingly. He looks at me, like he is thinking whether or not to accept this challenge.

"Oh you don't think I can." He says.

"Oh, I know you can't." I say back, taunting him. He grins, "I bet I can."

"Oh really?" I say, " Because I bet there is nothing you can say that would ever make me-----"

"I love you." Freddie says, cutting me off. At first I don't even think I hear him right. I'm shock, did he really just say that? I sit there speechless. I mean Freddie can NOT love me! Cause he is Freddie and I'm Sam, it can't happen. Right? It feels like forever before he grins and says, "I told you so." Wait, what?! He only said that to get me to shut up? Oh, he is so dead. Then again that's a good thing right? That he didn't mean it…….

"Freddie Benson has won! Did you hear that people?! I won!" Freddie shouts around the empty room. He starts jumping around, just rubbing it in my face. Poor Freddie, he has much to learn. He continues to "celebrate" his "victory", when I stick my foot out and he falls flat to the floor.

"Rule number 1 dork: never gloat about winning because then your opponent has the perfect opportunity." I say with much pride.

"Urrgggghhh" Freddie groans. He pushes himself back up and faces me.

"That is another point for the awesome Sam with a total of 672!" I say with a deep announcer voice. I just made up the number, but I bet I've won more.

"Fine, but now you have to admit that Freddie Benson has 1 point." He says.

"Yea, don't think so." I say.

"Why?" Freddie says, somewhat upset and childish.

"Because that was an invalid bet!" I say.

"Invalid?! What are you talking about, I clearly got you there."

"No, it was not a real bet, we never shook on it." I say.

"Aww, come on that is not a rule!" He whines. Ha, he really wants to win this, doesn't he? That's not going to happen.

"Yes it is, it is my rule." I say.

"Why do you get to make up the rules?" He asks.

"Because. I. Rule." I say smiling, "and now you just wasted the one thing that made me shut up and I will never fall for it again." His face drops, like he is hurt or disappointed. Why? Maybe because he will never win one of your bets again? I don't know, it seems like something else. He sits back down and picks up one of those ripped, out-dated magazines that no one ever really reads. Great, back to silence again. I guess now would be the perfect time to ask.

"Why did you leave some stuff out?" I ask. Knowing he won't understand. It was a really vague question.

"Huh?" He asks. I take a deep breath, "When we were telling Carly about what happened when we first found out about her being kidnapped and then the part at school, you left out the hug. I thought you would tell Carly everything……. Why didn't you?" Silence.

"I don't know, I just thought that it was between us, you know? And Carly wouldn't have understood. Plus you opened up to me then and I just thought it was something you wouldn't want me to tell." He says.

"Yea, ummmm….. Thanks." I say. He is about to say something else when the doctor walks in. Oh sure now she shows up!

"Hello Sam, sorry for the wait. How are you feeling?" Doctor Mariano asks.

"Fine, I guess."

"Well it has only been a few days. I'm glad to see that you can even walk, most people wouldn't been able to stand yet." She says.

"Yea well, Sam is not most people." Freddie says. I can't help, but smile. Why does he say things like that? It just gets me all flattered, I mean not many guys have ever said anything like that about me. Doctor Mariano smiles. She walks over and grabs a bottle of something and a roll of bandage. I get off the chair and turn around, my back facing Freddie.

"Okay, Sam if you can please lift your shirt." She says. Oh no, Freddie is in here! Should I ask him to leave? I don't know that would seem rude, he did want to come here. I think Freddie can see how uncomfortable I look.

"You know, I can just wait outside….." He says.

"No." I say quickly without even thinking about it, "I mean you don't have too…… it is okay."

"I actually think it will be better if you have someone with you. It always helps when you are not alone especially since this happened only a few days ago." Doctor Mariano says.

"Yea." Freddie says. I slowly inch up my shirt to just below my bra, so that my whole stomach and back are exposed. The doctor slowly starts to unwrap my old bandage. This is the first time Freddie has come to the doctor with me. His mom didn't let him go the first four times, but Carly almost cried when she first saw it. The bandages are almost off and I know Freddie can see all the purple and green bruises that cover my back and stomach. I wonder what his face expression looks like or what he is thinking.

"Well, your bruises are healing quite nicely. Now I am going to put this new lotion cover on your bruises, so that they can't get further damaged or infected. I'm not going to lie, this is going to sting." Doctor Mariano says. She starts to rub it on. Man! She wasn't kidding when she said this stings! It feels like it is burning too. I grab the side of the chair and squeeze it, to try and lessen the feeling. Soon I have a hand grab mine and I end up squeezing the hand. It is Freddie. He is grabbing my hand, squeezing back with the same amount of force. I don't know who came up with the idea, that if you squeeze someone's hand while in pain it will help. It defiantly helps. I take a deep breath. I think I might be crushing Freddie's hand, but I have my eyes shut, trying not to focus on the burning feeling. She begins to wrap my back again, pressing the lotion in more.

"Hey? You remember last year? We could hardly stand each other back then, all the pranks, name-calling, and fights. I remember when you squirted cheese in my face at school. I was appalled at the time, but now it seems really funny." He says, randomly. He voice sounds so sweet and caring. Why is he telling me this?

"What are doing?" I ask.

"Taking the pain away." He says.

"Okay, all done." Doctor Mariano says. I let go of Freddie's hand and pull down my shirt. I look at him, he is shaking his hand out. I guess I squeezed it too hard.

"Ahhhh, you sure have a death grip, Sam." He says, smiling.

"Yea." I say quietly.

"Okay, you are free to go. I will see back here tomorrow and then after that you can start coming every other day, instead of everyday." Doctor Mariano says, grabbing her clipboard and walking out the door.

"Thanks for….. You know…." I say, not exactly sure what to call it.

"I know." He says. I reach for my jacket, my back is still in pain and with the killer lotion on me now, it hurts even more. I struggle to turn my arms to get the jacket on.

"Here let me help." Freddie says. He grabs my jacket and pulls the one sleeve over my first arm, and then he puts it on my other arm. He reaches down the jacket and pulls the hood out from under it. I start to get chills. What is going on with me? He gently pulls my hair out of the jacket and sets it around my shoulders. I turn my head over my shoulder to say something, when I realize how close our faces are. Almost touching. I see Freddie's cheeks turn to a light pink. I can tell he is holding his breath, I am too. I think I see him start to inch closer. Fear arises in me.

"Ummmmm…… We should go…… find Carly and Spencer." I say, quickly turning my head away from him. I didn't know what else to do. Was he really going to try and kiss me? It's just all that is going on right now kissing him would only make things stranger. Wait, does that mean I was really going to let him kiss me? I was thinking about kissing the dork?! My mind is so jumbled right now, I don't know what I want.

"Yea, good idea." Freddie says. I can hear the embarrassment and disappointment in his voice. We walk out of the room, practically running into Carly and Spencer.

"Whoa, hey guys." Carly says, cheerfully. She hands me a FatCake, like she said she would. I'm not feeling that hungry anymore, but I take the FatCake anyway.

"Thanks." I say with my best fake happy voice.

"Doctor say everything was good?" She asks.

"Yup, everything is healing nicely." I say and put on a smile.

"Sorry, I wasn't there. Did it hurt? Changing the bandages?" Carly asks. She is my best friend, always worrying.

"No, I had help taking the pain away." I say. I see Freddie glance at me and smile.

"Oke-Dokey let's get back. I just an insane idea for a new sculpture!" Spencer says, while half way running out the door. I laugh. Ahhhhh, Spencer. You just got to love him and his crazy sculptures. I feel better now. I can't wait to hear more about Carly's story, when we get home. Carly grabs my arm, with Freddie slightly behind, we walk out the door.

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**Sorry if you are mad I did not make Sam and Freddie kiss. They will eventually, I just thought Sam wouldn't be ready yet. It seemed to fit.**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**I'm getting back in the writing mood, so hopefully I won't wait another month to update!**

**~J**


	4. Better Friends?

**Enjoy!**

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Better Friends?

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"Okay, before anyone tries to go off subject. Where did we leave off with the story?" I say. Carly hands me a glass of iced tea. We are back in the iCarly studio. Spencer drove us thru Inside-Out Burger on the way home, so now I'm full, relaxed and ready to know more. Carly and Freddie crash on beanbags. Urgghhh that looks so comfortable. I'm sitting on a regular, boring, not even designed to be comfortable wooden chair.

"I was asking you guys how you got to the motel. I remember you said you snuck away from the cops and got on a train…..?" Carly says, recalling what she last remembers me saying.

"Well, I can't tell you much about the train ride. I fell asleep the second we got on." Freddie says. Carly turns to me, expecting me to pick up the story.

"So…. Yea…. Train ride was super boring just watching the scenery." I say.

"You mean you didn't even sleep? You must have been exhausted." Carly says. I was, but I couldn't sleep knowing that Carly was out there. If I say that Carly will probably feel guilty, like she deprived me of sleep or something. Sometimes she just jumps to conclusions and usually blames herself.

"Nah-- I wasn't tired." I say looking at Freddie, who just smiles at the fact that I still don't want to make Carly feel bad and the fact that he knew I hadn't slept for over 40 hours.

"It gets good now" Freddie says with a smile.

"Why? What happened?" Carly asks.

"There were these morons on the train and I hit one of them." I say quickly. Freddie don't you dare go into detail. He looks over and has a "evil", well as evil as the dork can be, grin on his face.

"Sam defended me." Freddie says.

"Did not! I hit him because he thought we were together! I already told you that, what were you not able to comprehend it?" I say yelling and mocking at the same time. It has always been a talent of mine.

"Uh-huh, sure Sam." He says.

"Don't you 'Uh-Huh, sure Sam' me!" I yell. I thought we were not going to tell Carly about some of the "moments" we had. If you can even call them moments, but you know what I mean.

"What?! It is true!" He says.

"Is not!" I yell.

"Is too!" Freddie banters.

"IS NOT!"

"Is TOO!" I'm getting ready to shout back, when I hear Carly start laughing uncontrollably. Freddie and I stop to look over at her.

"Are you okay?" Freddie asks.

*Through laughter* "Yea-- it just you guys are so --- funny." She while trying to relax from her laugh attack.

"What?" I ask not understanding were that came from.

"Nothing. I just missed you guys bantering, never thought I would ever say that, but I think it is cool that you defended Freddie." Carly says to me.

"Ah! See!" Freddie says with his usual satisfied grin.

"And Freddie you don't need to rub it in Sam's face. I think it is awesome that you guys worked together to find me." She says, "I never thought you guys could be in the same room for more than an hour without something going wrong, but it really seems like you two have become better friends through all of this." Freddie stays silent. Better friends or maybe more? No, Sam! C'mon Freddie could never like you like that, but Carly's right we did grow closer, closer than she will know.

"You wish Carls, but Benson and I will always be enemies, that's not gonna change." I say, trying to sound nonchalant and Sam like, but a part of me knows that this is a lie or at least hoping.

"Yea." Freddie mutters. Silence. I switch my gaze from Carly to Freddie to Carly.

"Okayyyy…." Carly says, "Then you found the motel?" Yay, a point for Carly for turning the attention back to the story. Urggghhh maybe this was a bad idea.

"Yea and then we had to search through security video tapes for 3 hours!" Freddie says without adding detail, thank goodness.

"Whoa! I can't believe you guys never gave up. I would have been so broken at that point. I really do have the best friends in the world." Carly says with a smile. _Would have been broken, _if only she knew. I was beyond broken at that point. Looking back I can't believe how much I cried or how much I held it in. I was afraid that if I showed how scared I was that Freddie would judge me or start to lose hope as well. Instead, he just held me, comforting me. I glance at Freddie and somehow I can tell in his eyes that he is thinking about that moment too. Carly was about to ask something else when I cut her off, not wanting to further elaborate.

"Well, enough about us. What about you, Carls?" I ask.

"It sure seems like your guys' story is a lot more interesting than mine. I mean I was trapped in a car trunk for most of it." She let's out a hollow laugh, "but I guess now I would be just about at the abandoned building." Freddie and I don't say anything, so Carly continues, "When I was in the car trunk believe it or not I felt safer than when I was out of it. Though the fact of running out of air was a concern. I just remember lying there trying to stay calm and think of someway to get away, it was that moment that I wished I accepted your offer to teach me how to fight, Sam" She says looking over at me. I just shrug with a smile as she goes on.

"Finally the car stops and the trunk opens. The guy drags me out, when I first look around, I have no idea where I am or why they would go to a fishing dock. Anyway, we go inside the building and the guy that has me, I think I heard him being called Leo, throws me off to the other guy and told him to tie me up upstairs. Right now only my hands were tied, I'm not gagged, but I'm too scared to speak anyway, especially in front of all three of them. I kept wondering what they were going to do to me, if I would ever get away, also where the heck I was. I just remember my heart racing and trying to stop myself from imagining what might happen. So… the other guy grabs my arm and brings me upstairs. I tried to run once the other two guys were out of sight. I stomped on the guy's foot and turned to run, but I realized that I can not run as fast as I thought because he grabbed me again within like a second, he swung me around and his other hand was in the air, so when he swung me, I ended up getting cut by his ring. Hence why I have the cut above my eyebrow." Carly is looking off, like remembering and replaying it in her mind.

"Gosh, just thinking about it again, I wish I could have ran faster or done something, you know?" She says.

"Don't feel too bad Carly, I did not run as fast as I thought either." I say with a joking tone, trying to lighten the mood. Carly and Freddie are not laughing.

"Not funny." Freddie says. Yup, well it is kinda funny to me.

"Says you." I say back to him.

"It wasn't funny, end of discussion. Now this is where my story gets weird." Carly says. Sweet, now this is going to get interesting, not that it wasn't interesting before, just ummmmmm….. Yea.

"The second after I get cut by the guy's ring, he apologizes." Carly says. He apologizes?

"Wait, what?" Freddie says.

"He apologized. He was like 'I am so sorry' and asked if I was alright." Carly says, her voice filled with surprise, that's probably how she felt in that moment.

"Why would he ask if you were alright? Like he would have cared." Freddie says.

"You know it really seemed like he did." Carly says. She gets up and goes to the table to refill her iced tea glass.

"It was probably Jason." I whisper. I was mostly thinking out loud.

"Huh?" Freddie and Carly say. I look up at them, both heard what I said, they probably just don't know what I was talking about.

"The guy that apologized to Carly, it was probably Jason." I say.

"How do _you_ know?" Freddie asks. Well Jason was the one that did not want to leave Carly in the middle of nowhere. I can't tell then that. I mean Carly does not even know that I heard them talking about leaving her to die. I might upset her and Freddie and right now the last thing they need is more bad news.

"I don't, just never mind." I say.

"Sam…" Carly says, in her quiet, almost mothering voice, "you were the one that wanted to talk about this. We need to share everything, no secrets." _No secrets. _I glance at Freddie he looks guilty because we have kept some things from Carly.

"Carly, I really don't think…" I begin to say.

"Why are you so afraid to tell me?" She asks. Freddie just nods in agreement.

"I'm not afraid to tell you, it is just not that important." I say to Carly.

"When you know which guy is which by the fact that he apologized to Carly, I'm pretty sure it is important." Freddie says. Can't you stay out of this Freddie, you're not helping, and you don't have to defend Carly every second. She can speak for herself, geeeezzzz. I sigh knowing that there is no way out of this. I am going to have to tell them.

"After I called Freddie to tell him where you were, he told me to wait for the police and I hated the fact of just leaving you there Carly, but I realized that it would be safer for both of us if I waited for the police. So, I walk down the stairs about to go back to the gate to led the police to you, when the men walked out of the building." I say. Freddie and Carly's eyes are both wide with shock and anticipation.

"How come you never told me this?" Carly says.

"We have told anyone anything until now." I say back, "I sort of overheard them talking about what they were going to do with you and Travis, the guy that beat me, said that they don't need you anymore and they were going to…… they were thinking about….. Ummmmmm…. They were sort of going to dump you in the middle of nowhere to--- to die." I say. Carly and Freddie are both entirely speechless. I knew it, I knew I should not have told them. Way to go Sam.

"Wow….… I guess I knew that they were going to have to do something, but….. Wow." Carly says, not even being able to fathom it.

"And anyway Jason was the one guy that said it was wrong and he does not feel right about doing that." I add. They are both still not moving or talking. Carly looks petrified.

"Carls, you okay?" I ask. She looks up.

"Yea. I'm good…… So I think that is enough for today. Besides we have school tomorrow so we all should be ready and well rested." She says. Freddie gets up.

"Yea it is almost dinner time and my mom wants me home." He says, "Later Carls, Bye Sam." He looks over to me, I just smile as my goodbye, as he turns around and walks out the door. I stand up slowly, Carly just looks at me.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing." She says all giddy, we walk into the elevator. Okayyyyy…… Great, just what need tomorrow is to go to school. Everyone knows what happened. They better not be looking at any of us differently, just because I'm injured does not mean I can't beat them. The elevator opens and I plop down on the couch again, with another day gone and more to go.

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**Okay we are almost done with the whole flashback part of this story and going to move forward to school issues. I'm already planning a big fight/confrontation between Sam and Freddie, which might happen in the next chapter but I'm not sure. Also Carly, Sam, and Freddie's friendship is going to get back to normal, well kind of and I am also thinking about adding a scene with Roy's trial because I mentioned in an earlier chapter that he needs to go on trial because there is no real evidence against him.**

**Tell what you think and I hope you enjoyed and I'm sorry if you are sick of flashbacks, I kind of am, but no worries the story is going to start moving along.**

**~J**


	5. Dreams and Conversations

**Author's Note- In this chapter I switch off with using the words "glass" and "cup" they are the same thing. Sorry if it annoys you. I don't even know why I kept changing what I called them, but I did. :P**

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**Dreams and Conversations**

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"Carly, NO!" I scream as I jolt up from the couch and look around. I'm in Carly's apartment. I feel my forehead, it is drenched in sweat. My breathing begins to slow as I realize it was just a dream. The whole room is dark and still. What time is it? I reach for my phone 3:47am. Great. I get up and head towards the refrigerator. I swear they are the one thing that can solve any problem. I grab the pitcher of iced tea from earlier, I open the cabinet that the cups are in, only to see that they are on the third shelf now. Crap. I lean over the counter, on my tippy-toes and reach for the glass.

"Errr…..mmmm… C'mon….." I mutter to myself. I can't reach any further unless I want to be in pain for the rest of the day. I can already feel my back tightening. I stop reaching and just drink out of the pitcher instead. I remember seeing some pie in the fridge, so I grab a fork and the pie and sit down at the computer. Now that I can't sleep, I should at least do something. I click on the Internet and start browsing random sites. After about 15 minutes, I'm tired and bored, but still to jittery to go back to sleep. I decide to go to the iCarly website. I start watching old videos of Carly and me. We have definitely been through a lot. I hear footsteps and turn around.

"I thought I heard something." Spencer says, he eyes the pie that I have been eating. I thought at first that he was saving the pie for something, but he just smiles and grabs a fork. He sits down across from me, on the other side of the counter, and begins to eat some pie. We sit there for a few minutes, both digging our forks into the pie. Spencer grabs the iced tea and looks on the counter for a glass.

"You don't have a glass?" He asks walking over to the cabinet.

"Yea… I sorta couldn't reach, but it is no big." I say.

"Oh shoot. Sorry I totally forgot." Spencer says, grabbing the cups and rearranging them on the bottom shelf.

"No, it's fine you don't have to do that." I tell him. I really don't want to be any more of a burden.

"Hey, it is no problem" He says, moving some of the extra bowls to make room on the shelf.

"Spencer…." I say. He has two cups in his hand and starts to pour us both some iced tea.

"Hey kiddo, it's fine don't worry about it." He says.

"I'm not helpless." I mumble to myself, even thought Spencer heard me.

"No one is saying you are. Everyone needs a little help once in a while." He says. I sigh, I know that is true, it is just I feel like everyone has been helping me lately and I can't do anything.

"Sometimes when you and your homeboys are in a jam you gots to run and push people down to get away." Spencer says, hitting his chest in the end. Ummmm…. What? That was lame.

"Spencer. What does that have to do with anything? And what are you doing?" I ask pointing to the fact that he is scooping an excessively large bite of pie onto his fork.

"Well, I don't really know, but when I was in the big house whenever anyone said that, people would cheer up and agree." He says.

"You were in jail for less than TWO DAYS. If you can even call it jail, more like in the back of a police station, behind bars with four other guys." I inform him.

"Yea….." He says, "And the reason I am doing this," pointing to his fork with a heap of pie on it, "is to do this." He flicks his fork at me and the pie hits me right in the face, I can't help but smile. I would normally get mad, but I mean C'mon, it's Spencer. I wipe the pie from my eyes and see him with a huge grin across his face.

"Night Sam." He says, walking back to his room. I hear him trip in the hallway, knocking something over.

"I'm okayyyy…." I hear him say. I walk to the sink and grab a towel. Once I remove all the pie, I walk back over to the couch and close my eyes.

**_Sam's Dream_**

_I look around. Everything is pitch black. _

"_Hello?!" I yell. I hear it echo through the room. Where am I?_

"_Sam!" I hear someone yell. Was that Carly?_

"_Carly?!" I yell back, I start to run through the dark room, trying to find a way out._

"_Sam, Help ME! Please SAM!" I hear her yell again, I keep running until I hit a wall. I walk along it trying to find a door._

"_Where are you? Carly?!" I scream. I can feel my heart racing and tears streaming down my face. What's going on? Why can't I find her? I save her, I know I do. She is already safe. I hear her scream echo through the room. I finally reach a door. I pull on the handle. It does not budge. I start kicking it and pounding at it._

"_Carly?!" I yell._

"_You are not going to find her, Sam." I hear a different voice say. I turn around, but I can't see anything through the darkness._

"_No. No. NO. I have to save her." I yell. Suddenly the room is full of light. I shut my eyes because it is too bright. I slowly open them. I gasp at the sight. There are dead animals and skeletons everywhere. I feel like I am going to be sick. There is blood across the walls, I look down at my hands; they are covered with blood._

"_Did you honestly think you could save her?" I hear the voice say._

"_I DID!" I shout. There has got to be a way out of here. I start running through the room, past the dead bodies, trying my best to pretend they are not there. I run to every door and window, but none of them open._

"_You're pathetic." The voice shouts, "So weak and helpless." I keep running. The room feels like it goes on for miles._

"_Sam!" I hear Carly's voice scream. I turn around, nothing is there. I begin to sob._

"_Carly?! Where are you?" I scream, now walking slowly through the room. "Carly?!?!" _

"_Just give up." I hear the voice yell, it feels so close. I turn around. No…no …no …. it can't be._

"_Freddie?" I ask. The more I think about it, this whole time the voice did sound like Freddie, I was just to freaked to realize it. "Freddie" just smirks and takes a step forward. _

"_What's going on?" I ask him._

"_You're pathetic. You think you are so tough, but you are so broken; you don't even realize." He says._

"_What are you talking about Freddie? We don't have time for this." I say quietly, yet firm. He starts to laugh at me, walking closer, almost right in my face. _

"_Actually, you are out of time." Right then the lights go out, returning to the pitch blackness._

"_SAM!" I hear Carly yell and then everything falls silent._

"_Carly, NO!" I yell._

Then for the second time that night, I jolt up from the couch. All the lights are on, I look at the clock 7:45am. Crap, we have to be at school in 30 minutes.

"Sam, get up. We are going to be late." I see Carly sprint towards me, throwing me a pair of pants and a shirt. She is franticly brushing her hair and has a toothbrush in her mouth. Freddie walks through the door.

"Morning." Freddie says.

"Hi Freddie, can't talk right now." Carly rushes back up the stairs. Freddie looks confused, but I'm still trying to recover from that nightmare again.

"She woke up late. Her alarm did not go off." Spencer informs Freddie from the kitchen. Freddie walks over to me. I can feel that I am covered in sweat.

"Are you okay?" Freddie whispers to me, placing a hand on my forehead.

"Fine." I say, swatting his hand away. Stupid dream. No one knows this but I have been having that dream for the past three nights. I quickly get away from Freddie and go change.

**20 minutes later**

"Sam, ready?" Carly yells to me. I walk down the stairs. Spencer, Carly, and Freddie are all ready and waiting at the door.

"Yup" I say and we walk out the door.

**At School**

"I'm not an animal, stop staring." I yell at some kids. They quickly scamper away. I walk to my locker, where Carly and Freddie are.

"Sam, be nice." Carly says.

"But everyone is staring like I'm some exotic penguin or something." I say. Freddie smiles at that comparison.

"You know how people are. Everyone pretty much knows the story, I mean people have been asking me questions all day." Carly says.

"Whatever." I say. The bell rings and everyone starts to go to class. Carly and Freddie begin to walk away.

"You coming?" Carly asks.

"Nah, Principal Franklin wants to see me." I say.

"Yea he talked to us too. He is basically going to ask if your okay and recommend the school therapist." Freddie says. Oh, great.

"You guys are talking with the school therapist?" I ask.

"No. That is just too weird. I don't want to tell some stranger all about me." Carly says and Freddie nods in agreement.

"Okay later." I say and they walk down the hall. I reach the principal's office and the secretary tells me to sit down and wait cause Principal Franklin is busy at the moment. I slump down in a chair, but quickly sit straight back up when my back tightens and sharp jabs of pain course through it.

"Hey, you are that girl aren't you?" I hear someone say. I look over and two seats down is a boy with sandy blond hair and brown eyes. He is kind of cute, but I'm really not ready to meet new people or whatever.

"Yup…. Sure." I answer. Not really knowing who he thought I was, but I had a feeling it was about the kidnapping and junk. Geezzz…. News sure does spread around here like wildfire.

"Sam Puckett, right?" He asks. I just nod. Here it comes. All the questions and annoyance. I never thought I would say this but I wish Principal Franklin would just talk to me already.

"I'm sorry." He says. I take a moment to realize what he just said. Why was he sorry? He did not do anything? But it was actually one of the sweetest things someone could say. I mean not to go all mushy , but I don't even know this guy. I just look at him, totally at a loss for words.

"I'm Aaron Peters." He says, extending his hand.

"Sam Puckett." I say shaking his hand.

"Yea, I know." He says with a smile. He gets up and moves down two seats, so he is sitting right next to me.

"So what are you in the principal's office for?" I ask.

"Oh, I just started at this school last week and the principal never got the chance to formally introduce himself, so here I am." He says. Adding a mocking tone on the words "formally introduce". I laugh.

"Yea, that does sound like Principal Franklin." I say. He smiles at me.

"Samantha Puckett, you can go in now." the secretary tells me. I slowly get up from the chair and grab my backpack to walk away, when Aaron suddenly stands up.

"Hey, maybe we could exchange numbers or something? You know to talk again or laugh about adults' stupidity." He asks nervously. Sam, you know you can't deal with boys right now. But he is really nice and new to this school, he probably does not know anyone. I don't answer. He looks scared, almost.

"Wow, I'm sorry. That was way to forward wasn't it? I mean we just met and talked for a total of five minutes and that was just too much, right?" He quickly rambles. I just smile. He must really not do this that often.

"No, it's cool. I would actually really want to talk to you again too." I say. He smiles and we exchange numbers. I walk into Principal Franklin's office.

"Good morning Sam. How are you feeling?" He asks.

"Fine." I say. Why is it that that is always the first question anyone asks you. Not very original.

"Okay well I would tell you that everyone is here for you and that we think you are very brave, but I know that you will not care and or listen." Hey says. That's true.

"But I will say as Carly and Freddie have probably already told you that the school therapist is willing to talk if you need it. Now before you shoot it down like Carly and Freddie, just hear me out that she is really helpful and everything is confidential-----"

"I want to." I say interrupting him.

"Want to, what?" He asks.

"To talk with the school therapist." I say. He is taken back, like in shock. I guess I don't blame him, I mean both Carly and Freddie said no and I'm probably the last person he would of thought would say yes. But I really need to talk to someone other than Carly or Freddie, someone that can't judge or tell people my secrets. Plus that nightmare is killing me and hopefully if I can just rant about it, it will stop or something.

"Okay, well she is available during your free period and after school, but you can go see her whenever you need to, just don't use it as a get out of class free card." He says. I walk out of his office to go and join Carly and Freddie in class.

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**Hope you liked this chapter! Wasn't Sam's nightmare creepy? I thought so. And now Sam has a new boy in her life. I wonder how Freddie will react?**

**~J**


	6. How Long Can You Keep A Secret?

**Okay, so it's cool if you hate me for not updating in months, but with me being gone all summer and having extremely tough writer's block and lack of inspiration, it happens. I'm really proud of this chapter so I hope you enjoy.**

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How Long Can You Keep A Secret?

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"Hey guys." I say and take my seat next to Carly with Freddie sitting in front of me.

"Hey. How was Franklin?" Carly asks.

"Boring." I say. I don't want to tell them about seeing the school therapist, not yet. I mean they both shot down the offer without a second thought and I don't want it to seem like I am going to be talking to the therapist, instead of them. We are supposed to be silently reading, but our teacher is on his computer, hardly paying attention; so we quietly talk and joke about random topics. I feel my phone go off. I check it, one new text message.

**Principal Franklin now finds it necessary 2 give me a tour of the school. Did you know that we have a basement? It's kinda creepy, gives me the chills. :) -A **I smile and chuckle a little. Man, this kid is random. Why not play along?

**Oh I no. I heard Franklin buries the body of bad students down there. BEWARE - S**

I must have been smiling the whole time because when I look up Freddie and Carly both have the "we want to know why you were all smiley" faces on.

"What?" I say.

"Who were you just texting?" Carly asks. She is grinning. Why is she grinning? She is kind of creeping me out.

"No one, just this kid." I say. Carly is not going to accept that as an answer.

"What kid?" Freddie asks, somewhat rudely. I just look at him like "what's your problem?".

"Yea? You had your cutie smile on." Carly says.

"My what?"

"Her what?" Freddie and I both ask equally confused. Did she just say cutie-smile? What in the world?

"You know, your cutie smile. The smile people make when they are flirting or like who they are talking too." Carly says like it is the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't even think Sam was born with one of those." Freddie says, trying to make it sound like an insult. I just shoot him a glare. He looks down and I turn back to Carly.

"Okay you have seriously lost it Carls." I say. My phone goes off again, another text.

**Well then I guess you will be down here soon :P - A**

Nice. What to reply? Ummmm….

**Nah… I do bad things, but I'm 2 skilled 2 get caught and I can take Franklin, U on the other hand don't stand a chance - S**

I look at Carly and Freddie again, Carly is still smiling.

"You did it again! Who are you texting?" Carly asks.

"Okay, it is this new kid, Aaron Peters." I say like it is nothing. Which I guess it is, I mean I'm just texting the guy. I see Carly gasp and Freddie clench his jaw. What is his problem?

"The new blonde hottie? Sam he is gorgeous! How are you texting him?" Carly asks. It looks like she wants to jump out of her chair with excitement.

"He was in the office when I was and we just started talking and he wanted to exchange numbers so we could talk again." I say. Carly giggles all giddy and I hear Freddie scoff.

"What's your problem?" I ask.

"That is just so lame, one of the cheesiest pick-up lines ever." He says.

"Okay, first off what could you possibly know about pick-up lines? Don't you still spend your nights playing checkers with your mom?" I say, sounding rude. I don't know why I got angry, but seriously who is he to judge? The bell rings and everyone gets up to leave. I get another text as I walk out the door.

**You don't even know me -A **

Yea, like I did not see that one coming. Totally cliché. I decide to end our conversation there. Now, I just need to make it through the rest of the day.

It feels like the day took forever, but finally the last bell rings and I go to my locker and put my books away. Principal Franklin told me that I should stop by the school therapists office after school to "get comfortable". I guess it wouldn't hurt. I don't even know this chick's name, I think it is Ms. Harris or something.

"Hey Sam." I turn around and see Carly and Freddie walking over.

"What's up?" I say.

"We are going to Groovy Smoothie, you want to come?" Carly asks.

"Can't. I got detention." I lie, but I mean that's pretty much my escape for everything.

"You have only been back for one day!" Freddie says.

"I know, but in my defense Gibby missed my wedgies." I say. I smile and they shrug it off. Smooth, Sam.

"You want to meet us there, then?" Carly asks.

"Yup. I'll text ya." I say and walk down the hall towards the detention room. I wait until they are out of sight and turn the corner heading to the therapists office. I'm walking slowly to make sure if anyone I know sees me, I have time to think up something or just hide. Of course right as I'm thinking this Gibby comes walking my way, I quickly open the nearest door and end up hiding in the janitor's closet. I wait a few minutes until I'm sure that he is gone. I peer out of the closet and look up and down the hall to make sure it is clear. I step out of the closet and shut the door. Whew, that was close.

"What are you doing?" I hear a voice behind me say. I freeze, you have got to be kidding me! I was so close!

"Well I was just….." I begin to explain myself as I turn around to face the person. When I realize who it is I stop explaining.

"You were just mysteriously walking out of the janitor's closet?" Aaron says smiling. I smile and let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness it is him instead of Gibby or someone.

"Yea….. I was…. I kind of had to hide." I say.

"Avoiding someone?" He says. Almost in a teasing sort of way.

"Psssshhhhhh….. No." I say. All he does is cock his eyebrows. I'm wasting time, "Don't you have someplace to be?"

"Do you?" He asks. Why is he so interested? He is defiantly not like Freddie, I can tell you that. Which I mean is a totally good thing, right? God Sam, stop comparing everything to Freddie. What is wrong with me? Nothing has changed. That's the way it should be, the same Sam and Freddie frienemies relationship.

Man, at this rate I will never make it to Groovy Smoothie; then what am I going to tell Carly and Freddie?

"Actually you're right, I do have to be somewhere, sooooo bye." I say and turn to leave.

"Therapist's office?" He says. What? How can he possibly know that. I face him with half a "how the heck did you know that" and half a guilty face. Shoot, I did not want anyone to know about this. He better not tell anyone, I'll be sure of that.

"When I walked in Franklin's office this morning, he was on the phone with the therapist, telling her that you are going to start seeing her. He hung up, then realized I was in the room, but I played it off like I did not hear anything." He says. I watch his expression noting that he looks scared because he overheard something that he shouldn't and yet there is something else there…….. Sorrow? Compassion? Maybe? I have only known this kid for one day and he seems to care more than many others in my life. Still does not explain why he followed--- not followed that sounds too creepy, why he showed up here. I'm not letting my guard down. I can't. So I grab him by the shirt and look him straight in the eyes.

"You do NOT mention this to anyone, ever! Got it?" I say with my put-on tough Sam voice. The one where you know if I am talking to you, you're going to get it; but when I look at Aaron, he is completely unphased. He gently grabs my hands off his shirt.

"Don't worry. You can trust me." He says. I don't even get the chance to respond because he turns around and walks away. What…… What just happened? I can't handle trying to figure him out right now. I push the thoughts aside and continue to the therapist's office. I reach the room, standing outside. It's not too late Sam, you can just walk away now and forget about this now……. Do I even need this? Seriously, what is the point? I can just----- just---- I softly knock on the door before I sike myself out even more. I want this. I need this.

"You can come in." I hear a lady say from the other side. I open the door, Whoa was the first thing that came to my mind when I see the room. It is brightly colored with posters and pictures on the walls, there are a few beanbag chairs, a pop machine, and a couch. Dude, this is awesome! How could I have not known about this room?!

"Hello Samantha." I turn and see a woman sitting at the desk. She is definitely not what I pictured a therapist to look like; she appears young, early 30s if you ask me, and she does not seem shrewd so that's a good start.

"Hey. It's Sam by the way." I say.

"I'm Ms. Harris." She says. What do you know, I was right about her name. She gestures to a chair, but I can't stay long and if I sit down my back will tighten up and then it will almost be impossible to get back up.

"No thanks" I say.

"So would you like to talk about anything? Get to know each other more?" She suggests. She seems sweet, well I guess she has to be since she is a therapist and all. I'm just not in the mood for small talk.

"Ummmm….. Can we actually do that later? I just came to check this thing out and I have someplace I need to be." I say.

"I understand. Can I just ask you one thing?" She says, putting down the pen in her hand. I simply nod. "Why are you here, Sam?" _Why am I here? _That seems like such I simple question. Why are you here? Why? Cause I can't get over the fact that my best friend got kidnapped? That I can't believe I was a second away from death? I don't understand the change in me and Freddie's relationship? Because I am tired of feeling weak? Will I ever forget this moment? The anger I have towards my mom for not even caring about me? WHAT IS IT?

"I don't know." Is all that I manage to whisper out. She genuinely smiles at my response.

"Good." She says. I just give her a look of confusion. "Not knowing is a good thing, it means you know you don't have all the answers in your life. It's just the beginning." I can't help but to smile, I think I needed that.

"Kay, I will see you tomorrow." I say and walk out the door. I take sigh of relief, that was not so bad. Now to the Groovy Smoothie. This day is turning out better then I thought.

After 10 minutes I finally reach the Groovy Smoothie, I walk in and take a sit next to Carly.

"What's up, chicklets?" I say, taking a sip of Carly's smoothie.

"Nothing" Carly says quietly.

"Lacking the energy there, aren't we Carly?" I joke. Neither Carly or Freddie even come close to smiling. "Are you guys okay?" I ask.

"Why did you lie to us?" Carly asks, her tone a bit harsh, yet more of a mother-ish kinda way.

"What?" I ask. They can't know. There is no way they could know……. Unless, AARON!!!! He wouldn't, would he?

"You did not have detention today Sam, we know." She says. They both look at me, waiting for an explanation.

"You guys I don't know what you heard but------"

"Gibby was here." Freddie finally says. He sounds really upset, why are they getting so peeved over this?

"You guys I----" I begin to say quietly.

"He told us that you never gave him a wedgie today, in fact he said he did not even see you at all. So you did not have detention." Carly says.

"I know." I say simply. Maybe if I just leave I can just get out of this. Nah, they will probably stop me and then who knows if we would start a scene; and I really don't want everyone in here to know about my business.

"Where were you? And why did you have to lie to us?" She asks. Gosh, this was a bad idea. I should have known this was going to happen. Maybe I should just tell them, even though they will probably not like the idea of me talking to someone else when I could talk to them . They just don't understand. Hell, I don't even understand.

"Promise that you won't get mad. I was-----"

"With me" I hear a voice say, cutting me off. I know it is Aaron immediately. Aaron places a hand on my shoulder, at first I think its strange, but maybe he is just playing up his story. Make it more believable, I guess? Carly and Freddie sit there speechless.

"Yea, Aaron needed my help cause he had to---- had to---" I'm struggling with what to say. Luckily Aaron picks up on this and jumps in.

"I had to get acquainted with the school and all the teachers and since I met Sam earlier today, I just asked if she would help me out." He says, without missing a beat. Nice job. Carly finally snaps out of shock and into the realization that Aaron, the new school hottie is standing right by her. She quickly puts on a nice little smile.

"Oh of course, I totally understand, I mean new school and all. Sam we didn't you just tell us that and maybe Freddie and I could have helped too." She says, eyes locked on Aaron the whole time, even though she was speaking to me.

"I told her not to tell anyone because I'm quite embarrassed, you know being the new kid and all." He says. What a joke. That hardly even sounds plausible.

"Yea, of course" Carly says sweetly. Man, she has not taken her eyes off of him once. Carly definitely has the hotts for him. I could always ask him about her in a few days, cause I'm sure hanging out with Aaron will help Carly take her mind off things. Ya never know.

"Kay, well I better get going. I'm stop home before coming over later Carls." I say standing up.

"Cool. Hey Aaron, you can stay and chill with me and Freddie if ya want." Carly says.

"Nah, I actually got to get going too. I just came here cause Sam left her notebook." He pulls out my red scribbled on notebook and hands it to me. That's weird I don't remember dropping this in the hall; in fact I don't even think I had this with me, did I? No I'm sure I left this in my locker today. I give him a half smile, not really knowing what to think of it. He turns and walks out of Groovy Smoothie. I grab my book bag and say one last goodbye to Carly and Freddie, as I leave I hear Freddie whisper, "Didn't he spend all day with Franklin showing him around the school?" I wonder how long this is going to work and I still can't take my mind off how Aaron got my notebook……….

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Whew! That ends this chapter :] **

**I just realized that I made Aaron sound like a total creeper. Oh well, I don't think I'm going to get too into if he is stalker or not, that might be going a little off topic for this story, but we will see.**

**-J**


	7. I Care

**I Care**

"Hey Carls" I greet as I walk into her apartment. I stopped home after the Groovy Smoothie, I half wanted my mother to be there, but there is never any point of wanting her around…. She never is. I just grabbed some new clothes and made my way to Carly's.

"Hey Sam", she responded. I make my way to the kitchen, tossing my bags on the couch. I glance at Carly on the computer. She just looks at me with a goofy grin on her face.

"What?" I say. What's gotten into you, Carls…. I don't think I'm going to like where this is going.

"Soooooo….." she says all exaggerated and giddy, "…. Aaron Peters?" oh god…..

"What about him" I say. I have no interest even talking about the kid.

"What do you mean, 'what about him'?" Carly says like I just insulted her or something. I can't help but smile at her over dramatic tone. "You hung out with him after school! How? I heard he hardly talks to anyone. He has been here a week and he still hardly has friends." That's weird… he did not seem anti-social to me.

"Uh, he was just bored in the principal's office, I guess." I mean he did just start talking to me and running into me today so I don't really know the guy.

"Do you know who many girls would kill to be you with him?" Carly says. I can see her regret the word choice. "I mean… They…" she struggles to find the words. I just laugh.

"Nice, Carls" I say, jokingly.

"Oh shut it" she jokes back. "So what happened when you two hung out?" Well, he practically scared me to death when I walked out of a closet.

"I really do not want to talk about Aaron. He bores me." I say. It's true, I have no interest in having a full out discussion about him.

"Well fine…. He's cute though" She adds as she sits on the couch.

"Dude, if you are into him, just talk to him. It's not that hard Carly." I say and join her on the couch.

"Uh, I just don't know what to say… besides I think he has his eyes on you" she says. What? Me? That's ridiculous, the guy has spoken to me like twice in his whole life.

"Yeah, whatever" I say and roll my eyes at the thought.

"I'm serious. The guy as hardly talked to anyone for a week and now suddenly he keeps conversations with you and texts you and he talked to me and Freddie at the Groovy Smoothie when he returned your notebook. The kid is just asking for your attention," she says. Crap, she's right. Why is it that she is always right? Well, this guy will lose interest soon enough. With everything that has happened, I really don't need crazy boy drama.

"Well whatever it is, he will get over it. I have no interest for him. We aren't really even friends. I mean we JUST met." I say. It's like everyone just meets and decides to date for the heck of it. There is no point. "Now enough of this. I'm already sick of him."

"Okay, okay" Carly says.

"Why don't you finish telling me about… you know?" I suggest.

"Freddie's not here" Carly says. I just give her an annoyed look.

"He does not always have to be here. It's his loss anyway. If he is interested we can fill him in later. Pleaseeee, oh pleaseeee" I playfully begged her. Carly just laughed.

"Fine, calm down crazy" she says. "I mean there really is nothing left. I was locked in the building on the shipment dock. I remember not knowing how long I was there. I hated that part the most. Sometimes it felt like hours, the other days. I felt so trapped… I thought about Spencer, how much I love him, how much I appreciate everything he has ever done for me, for being the best brother ever, and if I never saw him again, how much I just wished he knew that and that he could move on and not blame himself…" Carly started to choke on her words. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Hey, it's okay" I say and bring her into a hug. She softly smiles at me.

"And I thought about my dad, and Gibby, and Freddie, just everyone," she says. "And I thought about you" I can already feel words getting caught in my throat. Oh, Carls. "I thought about how much I'll miss you and all your annoying habits" I let out a little laugh here. "And how much you mean to me, and that you are the best friend in the world, no matter what anyone says. And how much I did not want to leave you alone, how much I would hate never being able to protect you whenever you got upset, how much I did not want you to lose your best friend because I know that would ruin you. And how much I'd miss everything about you…." God, she should have stopped there. It's already taking every nerve in my body to keep me from crying my eyes out. I know it's gonna happen, I can feel the tears start to form in my eyes. "….. but most of all I just wanted you know that none of this was your fault and I never blamed you for a second. And you are the best sister anyone could ever have." That did it. Calling us sisters, did it. The tears started to fall down my cheeks. They weren't sad tears though. I was just overwhelmed and so grateful to have Carly back. I wipe away the falling tears and I see Carly doing the same. We both chuckle.

"Look at us" she says, smiling.

"I know, we're a mess, Carly Shay. What are we going to do with ourselves." I say.

"I just never thought this….."

"Yeah, I know" I say. We sit there in silence for a few moments, trying to regain ourselves.

"So anyway, when you showed up outside the window, I honestly thought I was going crazy." She laughs. "I mean I was in shock. You came right in that window like it was nothing. Totally Sam like. I don't think I even really grasped the whole situation until we were out of the building. It was surreal. And then you told me to leave you and run. Looking back I really wished I hadn't, I should have been there with you because waiting to find you after was the scariest time of my life. I honestly thought I wouldn't ever…. I'd never see you again." Carly says. She looks at me, her eyes so sweet and caring. I don't know what I would do if I ever lost her. If she never became my best friend years ago.

"I'm glad you did not follow me," I say to her. "Don't feel bad, I was so glad when I saw you run the other way when I told you to, I knew you were safe. And hey, I'm still here." I say and smile, "You can't get rid of me that easily" She can't help but to laugh.

"You're the best" she says, "And not to mention, Freddie" Huh, Freddie?

"What about Freddie?" I ask.

"Well it's a miracle that you two traveled together without killing one another" she jokes. Oh Carly, you don't even know the half of it.

"Did something happen between you two?" She asks. I snap out of my thoughts. Can she like read minds? Did Freddie say something? I just keep it cool.

"What do you mean?" I say.

"Well I mean when I found him and the police at the dock. He seemed more interested as to where you were. He did run off to find you before I even said two words" She says. I did not know that. It's a good thing he did, he saved my life. I owe him. Sam Puckett owes Freddie Benson, who would have thought it.

"Nothing happened" I say simply. It seems like that was not the response Carly was hoping for. It was the truth though. I mean nothing as changed. Carly was about to say something when there was a knock on the door and speaking of the nerd, Freddie walks through the door.

"Hey Carly, Hey Sam." He says.

"Hey" "Sup?" Carly and I both say.

"Nothing really. What are you two up too?" He asks, sitting down at the counter.

"Just talking." I respond.

"Well I was just asking Sam how you two managed to not kill each other when you were looking for me." Carly says. Why'd she have to tell him that?

"Oh she tried" Freddie jokes. I just look at him and he smiles at me. I can't even think of a good come back anymore. Gosh, Benson what the hell have you done to me.

"If I had tried, you'd be dead right now, Benson" I joke back.

"Oh really? Is that so, Puckett?" He mocks back. Oh he is going down….

"Urrrgghhh, I honestly don't even know why I try with you two" Carly says interrupting us. There was silence until Carly's phone started to ring. Freddie tossed her the phone.

"Hey Spence" Carly says into the phone. She gets up and walks away to talk to Spencer for a moment. "Spencer needs help down with some art supplies. I'm going to meet up with Socko and then we are going to go help Spencer. It shouldn't take long." Carly grabs her coat and purse.

"I'm comin too" I say. Hey, it's better than being left here all bored till she comes back. I start to get up.

"No no no" Carly prattles out at me, "The doctors said you need to rest. You had a long day today with school, I don't want you tiring yourself out. Just stay here and watch TV until I get back." See what I mean? She is a total mother. I can't complain though, she is just looking out for me. I know there is no point in trying to reason my way to go with her, so I just sigh and sit back down. "I'll text you when I'm on my way back. Bye guys." She says and walks out the door.

"Hey, get me a root beer." I ask, well it really wasn't a question, I more like told him.

"What, no. Get it yourself" Freddie responds.

"You heard Carly, I need to rest" I emphasize on the word rest, "I should just lay here all night" Freddie rolls his eyes and walks to the fridge. Success. He comes back and hands me a root beer.

"Anything else?" He asks, mockingly.

"You can lose the attitude" I tease.

"So how was school?" He asks. I just look at him like, did you really just ask me how school was?

"I mean you're first day back… did you hurt at all? Was it okay seeing everyone again? Not overwhelming or…."

"Geeezzz, okay okay, Benson, enough." I interrupt his rant of questions, "It was fine, school is school."

"Pain?" He asks.

"Na-duh" I say. It was mostly the truth, I hardly felt any pain, there was just a few times, but it was minor.

"So what were you really doing after school?" He asks. I look at him, kinda confused to why he asked that. I mean Aaron showed up, the story about showing him around school I thought was decent at the time.

"What do you mean?" I ask, trying to avoid the question.

"Well you are hardly one to want to spend more time in school, if you don't have too and you are also not the type of person that would just choose to give the new student a tour." He says. He thinks he knows me so well. I could want to show someone around….. Oh who am I kidding that's the last thing I would ever want to do.

"Aaron asked me and the kid seems cool, so I thought why not?" I say, trying to keep to what Aaron told them at the Groovy Smoothie.

"Alright," he says, "then why did you lie and have to tell Carly and I you had detention? I mean telling us you were showing Aaron around would have been fine."

"Cause then Carly would freak out, you know she should… and apparently you would be acting like this!" I say to him. I'm so sick of his questions, who cares where I was. I stand up and go to the kitchen, to toss my empty bottle of root beer away and find a snack.

"I'm not acting like anything, you're just lying!" He says, not exactly yelling, but close.

"You can believe whatever you want!" I snap back from the fridge.

"Principal Franklin spent the whole day showing Aaron around, so it's not like the kid was going to get lost without you!" He shouts all frustrated.

"Dude, who cares? Get over it!" I say. Why does he have to get all huffy over this? I begin to walk passed him, out of the kitchen.

"Because you're lying!" He shouts. I graze pass him as he says this, he ended up grabbing my arm when he yelled, to turn me to him. Now I normally would not be hurt by this, but my arms are deeply bruised and Freddie is squeezing a little too tight.

"Owww!" I whine out. Realizing what he did, he quickly let go.

"Oh Sam, I'm sorry… I didn't…. I just…" He says to me, all his anger is gone. I can see it in his face that he is ashamed for grabbing me, he really did not mean it…. But that does not change the fact that he did.

"What's the matter with you?" I cry at him.

"Sam, I didn't…" He whispers to me.

"Just go" I quietly say back. "It's fine, just go" Freddie looks really upset. He walks to the door.

"Freddie wait" I say. Turns back and faces me, "Carly told me when you didn't see me with her at the docks, that you took off, in like two seconds to come find me…why?" He shifts a bit and then looks at me.

"Because I care about you" He says almost whispering. I watch him as he turns and walks out the door. Yeah, this was a great day back alright.

**Well I thought that was a lovely chapter. I know it was a little out of character, but hey it's a fan fiction and I'm not Dan =) **

**I hope you enjoyed**


	8. Seriously?

**Seriously?**

"Sam? HELLO, you there?"

"Huh? Yeah— what were you saying?" Carly snaps me out of my daze and I continue to shove books into my locker.

"What's wrong with you today? You have been totally spacey since last night." She says.

"I'm fine." I mumble back and shut my locker to face her. I can see on Carly's face she knows I'm not fine. I really have been out of it since Freddie and I talked last night and we haven't seen each other since. I'm not looking forward to seeing him today either. I mean can you say awkward?

"Come on, I've known you long enough to know when you're not fine" She says and ruffles my hair like she does sometimes. She folds her arms across her chest waiting for me to spill and tell her what's on my mind.

"Urrrggghhh, Carlllyyyyy! I just don't see why things can't go_"

"Hey guys" Freddie says walking up to our lockers interrupting me. Carly throws him a glare for interrupting me, the look said go away, but Freddie didn't get it. Nub.

"Uhhhh… What's up?" He says, looking confused to Carly.

"Nothing, Freddie" Carly says sweetly, no longer upset he butted in our conversation. She turns back to her locker, grabs a notebook, and shuts the locker. "Oh now that both of you are here. Spencer said you two can come over for dinner, we're making pizza."

"Where else would I be?" I say.

"Sounds good. My mom has got book club tonight."

"Book club?" Carly laughs at the idea, "What books can your mother possibly read that other people actually like? I don't think _How to Protect Your Teen from 108 Different Bug Bites_ is going to work." She says mockingly. I smile, that's so true.

"I don't know…. It's some romantic- comedy—son—thing. The point is it took me 2 hours last night to finally convince her to go. This is the first time she has left me alone since…." He trails off. I mean it's not like we don't know what he's talking about.

"Cool, then its all set." Carly says, "Kay, I have to go ask Mr. Henning a question on our last quiz. He didn't even give me a grade, the quiz just said 'The earth spins south' or something. What does that even mean?" Freddie and I just give confused looks. There are no words to describe that man. What a freak. "I'll see you guys in class." She smiles and walks away, heading to class.

"Hey" Freddie says softly, like I'm a fragile child or something. Geeezzz Freddie, seriously? But this is the first time we have talked since last night. I'm not even upset anymore, there really is no point. After everything that we have been through, these stupid little things shouldn't even matter anymore. I just want to go back to normal, but I know we can't… which sucks. I'm trying not to focus on it, but the court dates are going to be soon. Talk about trying to move on right? I don't even know how this official law thing works, I just want that lying, sneaking, Roy to get what he deserves.

"Hey." He says again.

"Hey." I say back with the same softness might I add. I hate this, I feel like we are tip toeing around everything lately. I lean back on the locker. God, why isn't he saying anything? I feel like the air is suffocating.

"How's it going?" He says.

"It's fine, getting ready for a nap in math." I say with a fake laugh trying to lighten the mood. Freddie smiles and chuckles a bit.

"Sam, I really want to apologize for yesterday. I never_"

"Hey Sam, Freddie" I turn and see Aaron walking towards us. I see Freddie scoff and roll his eyes.

"Hey Aaron." I say. He smiles at me, a kind of unsettling smile that makes a chill go down my spine… weird, but it's probably just me, everything has been unsettling to me since what happened. Come on Sam, he is just smiling at you.

"Hey. What's up man?" Freddie says. Aaron acts like he doesn't even hear Freddie and keeps his gaze on me. I look at Aaron. I can see why all the girls, including Carly, are into him. He has that "ideal teenage dream boy" look with his blond hair and blue eyes, but still the way he is looking at me now is just not… right.

Uhhh… Aaron?" Freddie says again. I look at Freddie, who has this worried or freaked out look on his face. I give him a shrug like "I have no idea why Aaron is looking at me like that. Creep"

"Yeah, Sup Freddie?" Aaron finally says and his focus moves to Freddie.

"So how do you like Ridgeway so far?" Freddie asks.

"It's nice you know. Just another school." He says.

"Have you been to many other schools?" Freddie asks.

"Yeah, I move around a lot…" He says. Well, thanks so much for that insightful conversation.

"Cool." Freddie says, I think he just didn't know what else to say… I mean cool? Really? "Sam we should really be heading to class."

"Yeah" I say and take a step towards Freddie.

"We'll see you later Aaron." Freddie says.

"Later." I say.

"Uhhh… actually Sam I was wondering if you could show me to room 248? I'm still not quite sure where everything is" Aaron says with a shy smile.

"Oh well yeah, sure." I say, kinda confused. He has been here for over a week now and he doesn't know where his class is?

"Didn't she show you around after school yesterday?" Freddie asks. Oh crap not this again.

"Oh yeah, but I just want to be sure." He says.

"Our school isn't that big. I'm sure that you would find your way." Freddie says. Why is he acting like this? I know he doesn't like the guy, but he doesn't have to be so rude, I mean he doesn't even know Aaron. Well, I guess I don't either, does anyone really know him?

"It's cool, Freddie." I say, "I'll meet you in English. Let's go Aaron."

"Yeah." Freddie says and walks towards our English hall.

"So why did you really want me to take you to class? You know where your class is dude, I know you do." I say to Aaron as we walk down the hall together.

"Ha, yeah. I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Ummmm… I'm fine." I say. What's with everyone wanting to know how I'm doing? I mean I can see Carly and Freddie, but this guy, I don't get at all.

"So how's meeting with Ms. Harris going?" He asks.

"Shhhhhh….. Dude. What did I say about that, you don't even mention it at all." Can this guy talk about anything other than me?

"Ha-ha… okay okay" He laughs and joking throws his hands up.

"So what about you?" I ask, "What brought you to Seattle?"

"Oh… my dad's job makes us move around a lot. I'm used to it now." He says.

"Annndddd?" I say waiting for more of the story. Aaron just looks at me confused. "Come on, there has to have been more to your life than that."

"Not really, just a boring little life." He says. This guy is more locked up than I am, but I guess it's none of my business.

"Hey, you know what? Why don't you come over to Carly's tonight and hang out with us?" I suggest.

"Really? You sure? I mean I don't even know Carly that well." He says.

"Yeah, it will be great and you'll love Carly, everyone does." I say. This will be great. Carly is totally into this guy so she will be psyched and everyone can get to know Aaron better. Hopefully this will also get him to talk about something other than me.

"That sounds like fun. Sure I'll be there."

"Cool. See you later." I say. Tonight is going to good. We need this. Carly is going to flip when she finds out.


	9. PIZZA

**PIZZA**

"Shay, you NEED to calm down." I say. I'm flipping through channels, lying in the couch; while Carly is trying on her third outfit in the past 10 minutes. Yeah, I know.

"Okay, what about this?" She asks motions to her new blue jeans that shape her perfectly and a cute new top. It actually wasn't bad, not too dressy like she could have done. It's just simple and cute.

"I like it." I say the same thing I said for the other two outfits. She rolls her eyes.

"Urrrgghh Sam, come on I need your opinion." She whines. Oh Carlotta…

"It looks great. Go with this one, it's the best." I say trying to act like I care. I mean I do care a bit because she is my best friend, but really? She asks me how her outfit looks. I don't even pay this much attention to my outfits.

"You sure? Cause I have this other one_"

"Carly! It's great. Now breathe and come sit and watch TV with me." I say with a smile. Carly laughs and takes an over exaggerated breath then joins me on the couch. I turn off the TV and face her.

"You think he will have fun? I mean making pizzas is cool, right?" She asks.

"Ha-ha, Carly, stop with the questions! He is a cool guy; it will be good for him to meet other people. I mean it's kinda weird that he doesn't really have any friends yet." I say.

"He is just shy and I know he will just fit right in here when he opens up." She says. For some reason I don't think it will be that easy thinking back to earlier at school when he never even answered a question straight forward. "Okay, I'm going to go finish getting ready and clean up a bit. You need anything?" I just give her a head shake for no and she heads up the stairs. I sit there for a few minutes just staring off into space. It's nice just having time to relax and think, just think about anything and everything… it's really nice. There is a quick knock on the door before it opens and Freddie walks through.

"Hey Sam." He says.

"Hey." I say. He sits on the other end of the couch, facing me.

"Where's Carly?"

"She is freaking out about Aaron coming over tonight." I say.

"Urgh, why?" Freddie says.

"Cause its Carly and she freaks at every little thing, especially with cute boys."

"Why is he even coming over?"

"Freddo you have to get over this whole 'not liking a guy you don't even know' thing. He just moved here, it will be good for him to have friends and Carly is really excited about this, so enough whining and don't ruin this." I say with my whole threatening Sam voice and give him a light punch in the shoulder. He lets out a small quiet laugh.

"Alright, alright. I'll try to get to know the guy, but you have to admit there is something that is just off with him, right? It can't just be me." He says. No, it's not just you….

"Aaron is really nice; there is nothing off with him. I think you are paranoid Benson." I say. Crap even when I say it, it doesn't sound right.

"Can you blame me for being a little paranoid?" He asks. Not at all…We stay silent for a minute, I look down at my feet. "Sorry." He says.

"Its fine, I get it. Of course I get it." I say and shift my gaze around the room.

"You know you can talk to me Sam." He says.

I take a deep breath, I don't even know why. "I just want things to go back to normal." He grabs my hand, I know shocking right? But what might shock you more is that I don't pull away. What, I can't be tough all the time, especially after everything.

"I know." He says. It's so simple just two words, but it helps more than anything.

"I'm sick of being afraid at night and walking around in pain and bruised up just reminding me of how weak I am, not even being able to _"

"Sam, I don't ever want to hear you say that again." He says. It's not a tough, commanding voice; it's sweet and caring, but he absolutely means it. "Your bruises aren't a sign of weakness; they are a reminder of your strength." There it is that stupid fluttery feeling. There has to be something wrong with me.

"Thank you." I say. I didn't mean to make it sound like it did, so soft and enduring, but I couldn't help it. I can see on Freddie's face he is a little shocked by the tone of my voice too. I mean it's not like I have ever opened up to him before or had a moment. Wait are we having a moment right now? No…. well maybe… I guess we kind of are.

"You're welcome." He says with a laugh.

"Hey guys have you_" Carly says coming down the stairs, "Oh am I interrupting?" Freddie and I give her confused looks. Why does she think she is interrupting anything? Carly reads our confused faces and points with a smile to my hand, which I just realized Freddie is still holding. Freddie and I glace at each other and quickly move our hands.

"Nope not interrupting at all." I say.

"Yeaahhh." She says and walks into the kitchen. I get up and walk to her.

"So all ready, hair perfectly in place?" I joke.

"Ha-ha, very funny…..Okay we have everything for pizzas" She says closing the refrigerator. "When did Aaron say he would be here?"

"I don't know… soon." I say.

"Does he even know where I live?" She asks worriedly. Oh gosh.

"Yes Carly. He will be here." I say.

"Maybe you should text him, just to be sure." She says. I really don't see the point, but Carly gives me that stupid sweet look, like she does when she wants something.

"Alright." I say, "Freddie toss me my phone." He grabs my phone and tosses it over the counter. He goes and starts messing around on the computer.

**Hey u gonna b here soon? Ur taking forever. Hurry up :P – S **Just a few minutes later there is a knock on the door.

"That's him!" Carly says gleefully, "I got it." Ha-ha and this is why I love Carly, always so giddy and happy. She opens the door and Aaron is there in jeans and a casual tee.

"Hey Aaron." Carly says.

"Hey" Aaron says smiling back at Carly.

"Come on in" Aaron walks in and Carly shuts the door behind him.

"Hey man" Freddie says from the computer.

"Hey" Aaron says walking towards me, I mean the kitchen. Duh, obviously walking into the kitchen, I just so happen to be there too.

"Fast enough for you?" He jokes and leans into hug me. I return the hug, but quickly scrunch up and let out a small gasp because the hug is a little too tough and pain shoots through my back. The hug ends and I don't think Aaron even noticed my reaction cause he just turns around and starts chatting with Carly, I'm not really listening.

"You okay?" I hear Freddie whisper in my ear. I nod in response.

"Okay, pizza time?" Carly says. She goes to the fridge and starts grabbing all the toppings out. Freddie goes to help her. I walk to the table and start clearing it off, Aaron joins me.

"Where should I put this?" He asks holding the napkin holder.

"Here." I say motioning him to give it to me. Carly and Freddie move all the ingredients to the table. This is going to be fun. Who doesn't like making their own pizza? Besides the pre-made crust, it is totally your own creation.

"Isn't Spencer joining us?" Freddie asks.

"He is out right now, he will be back when we eat, but he said just make one for him." Carly says.

"Well then, let's get started on this bad boy." I say reaching for a crust.

...

"Okay while the pizzas are baking, you want to check out the studio Aaron?" Carly asks.

"Sounds great." He says. They make for the stairs.

"I'll meet you guys there." I say. I walk into the bathroom and splash some water on my face. I have a headache and search for some aspirin. A few minutes later I walk out to go upstairs and I see Aaron still downstairs.

"Oh hey… I thought you went up to the studio." I say.

"Forgot my phone." He says. Ummm…. Okay. Still kind of weird.

"Well shall we go up?" I say.

"Course" He says with a smile. He makes for the stairs.

"Uh… elevator for me. I'm not too good with stairs yet." I say and push the button. We get in and head up to the studio.

"Thanks for inviting me Sam." He says.

"Hey, don't mention it." I say, "So Carly is nice right?" Trying to subtly mention her.

"Huh? Oh yeah she is nice." He says, not too interested. Well this is now officially awkward.

"Sooooo…. What does your dad do that you guys move around a lot?" I ask. Yeah I know, back to the family thing, but I can't help it. I'm curious.

"He is in business. So what about your mom?" He says changing the subject.

"Ummm…. She's cool." I say. I mean what I can I say; I'm kind of thrown off guard. The elevator door opens.

"I'm sorry she hasn't called you since." He says stepping out of the elevator. Wait… what? How in the world could he possibly know my mother hasn't called me? This is too much. Freddie was right, something is off with him.


	10. Relaxing

**Relaxing is Going to be Harder than I Thought**

I step out of the elevator and I swear I can't breathe. I see Aaron talking to Carly and Carly is definitely flirting it up.

"Sam?" I hear someone say faintly, I can hardly hear anything. My heart is beating so loud. How could he know that? This just makes me think about everything else about this guy that isn't right.

"Sam?" Like how did he get my notebook the other day? I can't believe I forgot about that. I keep trying to stop Freddie from being rude to him and saying that Aaron is a nice guy that I kind of forgot about it. There has to be an explanation…..

"SAM?" I finally snap out of it and turn to Freddie, who has been calling me this whole time.

"Huh? Yeah, what?" I say. I think I just took my first breath since the elevator.

"Are you okay?" He asks in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, I'm just not feeling well. I think I'm just going to go lie down." I say.

"You sure?" Freddie asks. He puts a hand to my forehead, "You do feel a little warm."

"I'm just gonna go." I say and with that I'm out the studio door and down the stairs. Yes, I do know what I said about the stairs, but at this point I really don't care. My head is spinning and I just need to lie down and I have to stop freaking out. I walk down into Carly's room and close the door. Silent. This is better. I turn on some quiet music and lay down on Carly's bed…..

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_I look around and see nothing in the darkness._

"_SAM!" I hear a screaming the dark. I know that scream._

"_Carly?" I shout into the nothingness. I start running, but I don't know where to or even if I'm getting anywhere at all._

"_Sam HELPME!" I hear her shout from the other direction. I can't see anything. I'm running blind. Is Carly okay?_

"_Where are you?" I shout. I frantically turn every way trying to find something in this darkness. There is no answer. "Hello?" I shout, but I only get my echo returned to me. I'm alone. "Carly?" I try again. Nothing. Not a single sound. _

"_You're too late." Someone says. A boy's voice, Freddie? I don't know and suddenly everything gets bright and I scream._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_  
_

I jolt awake and almost shout out loud. I'm breathing quickly and I scan my surroundings. Carly's room. It was just a dream, that stupid dream again. Will it ever end? I see Carly sleeping next to me on the bed. Her clock reads 2:52am. I slept through the whole night; I missed pizza, which is probably why my stomach is growling for food now. I quietly get out of the bed and make my way to the kitchen.

I open the fridge and see my pizza wrapped neatly in plastic, I pull it out and begin eating slices. I'm not a therapist or anything but these dreams cannot be good for me, I need them to stop. Can you stop your own dreams? I have no idea…

"What are you doing?" I hear someone whisper. I practically jump at the sound. I turn and see Freddie in his pajamas looking all tired. Freddie? What in the world is he doing here?

"Geezz Freddie, you scared me half to death. What are you doing here?" I ask.

"My mom got a flat tire on her way home from book club so she just said stay the night because it was already late, so I just crashed on the couch."

"You live right across the hall…. Why didn't you just crash in your room and then your mom would have just gotten home whenever." I say.

"Yeah right, like she would let me sleep alone in our house." He says and grabs a piece of my pizza.

"So you just crashed here instead?"

"Pretty much." He says.

"Wow Benson a sleepover on a school night? You rebel." I tease.

"Yeah yeah. So are you feeling better?" He asks.

"Yeah much, I think I just over worked myself or something" I say, not wanting to think about everything again.

"Just take it easy for a while." He says.

"I will." I finish my pizza and walk towards the stairs to go back to Carly's room. I look at the door; this is the first time I'm not sleeping on the couch watching that door. What if something happens?

"I'll watch the door Sam" Freddie says as if he read my mind, "No man is a match for me" He jokes with this ridiculous fake jock voice. I laugh. "Goodnight Sam."

"Goodnight Freddie" I say and make my way to Carly's room. I quietly lie back down in the bed and shut my eyes.

"Sam?" I hear a very tired Carly say.

"Yeah?" I turn to face her. Her eyes are closed, she is just mumbling in her sleep.

"You know you're my best friend right?" She mumbles. I smile, who doesn't love a sleep talking Carly?

"Yeah I know." I say.

"I love you Puckett. Goodnight." She says almost inaudibly.

"Love you too Shay. Night." I say and close my eyes for the night.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"I see, so long have you been having this dream?" Ms. Harris asks. I'm sitting in a funky lounge chair in our school therapist's office. I mean Ms. Harris is our school therapist so she would know something about these dreams right? Well it seemed like a good idea to me.

"For a few days." I say.

"So since you got back from the hospital?" She asks.

"Yep. And it is always the same one, over and over."

"Well Sam, it's not uncommon for people to get nightmares after a traumatic experience."

"So I'm I like traumatized or something?" I ask.

"Well it is different for each person on how their mind copes and tries to heal afterwards. Some people hear different noises or their mind has moments of confusion and cannot tell what's going on."

"Great, so I'm going crazy." I say sarcastically.

"No you're not going crazy Sam. Just think of it as your mind is in alert mode_"

"Well how do I turn it off?" I ask interrupting her. She just smiles.

"It will stop Sam, but if I were to take a guess, you have been a little more paranoid ever since?" I don't answer. "That is just fine. I don't know one person that wouldn't be, but too much stress right now is not good for you. You need to start relaxing and get back into the routine of things at school and home, and then your mind will come out of alert mode, so to speak."

"So if I just relax and not stress as much, the dreams should end?" I ask.

"Yes, but it will take some time. The mind is just like a muscle and it has been strained, in a sense, by everything, so now it just needs time to heal. It will be okay, Sam. It is hard for the mind to keep the same reoccurring dream for a long period of time. Dreams are hardly ever the same and most dreams you don't even remember when you wake up. The same dream does happen sporadically sometimes and in your case, you keep thinking about this over and over, that it is the one thing your mind can easily go back to when you fall asleep. Does that make sense?"

"Not really." I say with a smile. I tried to follow what she was saying, but it didn't work out that well.

"Well you can first work on relaxing and releasing all the negative stress in your life right now."

"Okay. Got it." I say standing up. I have to go to my locker and then English. I'm already late, not that I care, but I told Carly and Freddie I would meet them in there. They think I'm in Franklin's office talking about something or another, I can't remember what I told them.

"Okay, well you have a good day Sam." Ms. Harris says with a smile.

"Later." I respond and walk out the door towards my locker. So I just have to relax. I can do that. It is the weekend; I'll stay at Carly's and have a nice calm weekend to help stop this nightmare thing. I grab and shove books from my locker into my backpack.

"Hey you." I hear someone say behind me. I shut my locker and turn to the voice. Aaron is walking up to me. Oh great.

"Hi" I say uninterested and start to walk past him, but he stops me.

"Whoa, what's the rush?" He says.

"Nothing, just gotta get to class."

"You don't seem like the kind of girl that would be so keen on going to English."

"Yeah, well." I say and try to get past him again. No luck. If he is smart, he'll get out of the way.

"So what happened to you last night?" He asks.

"I didn't feel well, so I went into Carly's room to lie down and I must have fallen asleep." I finally get around him and make my way down the hall to class. Yep, he didn't get the hint; I hear Aaron right behind me.

"Oh well I hope you_" I really stop listening to him at this point. My mind goes back to all the questions from last night. I try to keep my heart from racing again. I just have to know…. Urrrggghhh, this is not helping my stress levels. He is still rambling about something. Enough is enough.

"How did you know about my mom?" I turn as I say it, practically crashing into him. I can't even tell if he understood what I said because I talked so fast.

"Huh?" He says.

"How did you know that my mom hasn't called me? There is no way you should know that. And how did you get my notebook the other day? You better explain right now because you are officially creeping me out." I say, almost all in one breath.

"Sam, I found your notebook on the floor by your locker, it must have fallen out and Carly mentioned your mom last night in the kitchen. You were talking to Freddie." He says matter of factly. Oh crap… crap. Now he must think I'm crazy. Nice Sam, just accuse him of everything. I basically just called him a stalker!

"Oh…." I say, "I just….. you must think I'm crazy…. I've just been on edge lately and you were saying this stuff and I didn't know, I just_"

"Sam calm down." He says, interrupting my rant. "Its fine" He smiles at me. I give him a small smile in return and start to walk away. Yeah, I'm definitely late for English now. I hope Carly and Freddie don't bother me with questions.

"Hold on a sec, Sam" Aaron says.

"Yeah?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go get smoothies after school today?"

"Uhhh…. Yeah. I'll tell Carly and Freddie."

"Actually I was thinking you and I can just go." He says. His hands are in his pockets and he seems nervous. It is kind of cute, seeing him all shy and flustered. Hold on… is he….?

"Like a date?" I say plainly.

"I guess." He says. Good idea? Bad idea?

"Well it's just that Carly is kind of into you…" I say. That's true. Why is he even asking me out? I thought he and Carly hit it off. She was all over him yesterday. I cannot do this to her. Plus, I'm not even attracted to him. He is not my type, not that I really have a type, but if I did, it wouldn't be him.

"Carly is nice, but I just don't see myself liking her, you know?" He says. I don't respond. What can I say? I mean this is my best friend we are talking about.

"Aaron, I don't_"

"Friends?" He says, "We can be friends can't we?"

"Well yeah" I say.

"So smoothies?" He asks again.

"Yeah, smoothies." I say.

"Sounds good, see you later Sam." He says and heads down the other hall to class. Man, it's going to be a long day.


	11. Stress Free Weekend?

Stress Free Weekend?

**XXXXX**

"So why does he not want to get smoothies with all of us?" Carly asks again. It's the end of the day and we are at our lockers.

"I don't know Carly. I think he just is more comfortable talking one on one." I say. I haven't told her about Aaron kind of asking me on a date. I mean she is so into him and I know he said he doesn't like her, but I think he just doesn't know her that well yet. I'm sure he will like Carly the more they hangout. Carly grows on you like that.

"I think he likes you." Carly says.

"What? No." I say back.

"Well he mostly talks and texts you and now he wants to go get smoothies, just the two of you. Come on Sam this is a total boy thing when they like a girl." She says.

"Look, I'm not into him. We have like zero to nothing in common and maybe he wants to go get smoothies with me so we can talk about you." I say.

"I never thought of that." She says, smiling.

"Yeahhhh, Carly." I say. She sticks her tongue out at me. I know sooo mature right? I stick my tongue out right back at her.

"That's cute." Freddie jokes walking up to us.

"Neeeeehhhhh" I say and stick my tongue out at him. He just smiles and rolls his eyes.

"Oh Sam, just text when you are on your way over after smoothies." Carly says.

"Yup." I respond.

"Oh yeah, you're really going out with him?" He says with disgust.

"We are going to get smoothies, that's it." I say.

"Whatever." He says. Not this again.

"Yeah, whatever. I'll see you guys later." I say. I go to meet Aaron at his locker.

**XXXXX**

"Well sounds like you guys had a good time." Carly says from the kitchen. I'm back from Groovy Smoothie and now chilling at Carly's.

"Yeah, it was. Aaron is really cool." I say. Okay, saying he is really cool is an understatement. He is practically perfect. I can't believe how much we have in common. He likes all the same bands and movies and he even watches MMA fighting. It's crazy. It was like he was reading my mind. He even knows my favorite song! Which I never thought anyone would know because it is a really unknown band. I swear he is like a different person than before… or it was me just being paranoid, all of the weird stuff I accused him of. He is so sweet, I definitely get why all the girls are so lovey for him. BUT we are just friends, that's it… I mean Carly…. Urrrghhh, this sucks…..

"So he is coming over?" Carly asks.

"Oh yeah. I invited him; he said he will be over soon. He just stopped home for a minute." I say.

"Okay. I'm going to go change." Carly says with a smile and goes upstairs. Oh Carly…. What am I going to do? Carly likes Aaron, but Aaron doesn't like Carly; Aaron kind of likes me, and me? I have no idea. I can't do this. Nothing good is going to come from this…. I have to tell Carly and I have to talk to Aaron. It has only been two weeks since everything…. It's too soon. I need to focus on healing and the court dates. I don't want to get into any of this right now.

"Someone looks like they got a lot on their mind." I look up from the couch and Spencer is walking out from the hall.

"Hey Spence." I say. He comes and joins me on the couch.

"How is it going kiddo?"

"It's good." I say.

"I know it is." He says. "So you and Carly doing anything tonight?"

"Aaron is coming over. He was the kid from last night." I say.

"Oh right. I remember him. Blondie, right?" He says with a smile.

"Yeah, Blondie" I say with a laugh, "And Freddie is coming too"

"Sounds fun." He says. "Seems like you guys are getting back into things"

"Yeah, we are. Slowly, but we are." I say.

"I don't think you guys are moving slowly. I'm really impressed with all of you." He says, "But just know that it is okay to take your time. Acting like you guys are okay is going to work for now, but you'll see that you are going to need something more than the cover you are hiding under."

"Spencer, I don't…. it's just hard..." I say.

"I know. Just remember Sam that you're not alone and everything you are feeling, Carly and Freddie are feeling too." He says.

"I know" I say. "When did you turn into the serious adult?" I joke.

"I have my moments" He says. "I'm proud of you Sam and I don't know how long it will take, but I can promise you, everything is going to be okay." He gives me a light squeeze on the shoulder. I smile. He gets up and grabs his keys and jacket. "I'm going to hang out at Socko's for a bit. Call me if you need anything. Carly already knows. Bye Sam." He says and walks out the door.

"Ummm… bye" I say to a closed door.

"Oh and don't forget to lock this door when your friends come over" Spencer says, quickly opening the door and shouting it to me. And once again, he shuts the door before I can respond. Something interesting must be happening at Socko's.

"Is he here? I heard the door." I hear Carly yell from upstairs.

"It was just Spencer leaving." I shout back. Come to think of it Aaron should be here by now. Where is that boy? Just as I'm thinking this, there is a knock on the door.

"That's Aaron. I'll get it!" Carly shouts from her room, but I'm already up and walking to the door.

"I got it!" I shout to her. I open the door and see Aaron standing there, not looking so friendly. Is something wrong?

"Hey Aaron" I say with a smile.

"Hi" He says, almost angry.

"Dude, is something_" I turn to ask him what's bugging him, but Carly comes downstairs and cuts me off.

"Hey Aaron" Carly says, smiling.

"Hey Carly." He says all happy. What the heck? "You look really nice" He tells her.

"Awwww, thanks" She says. Did I miss something? They walk into the kitchen, I follow behind. Carly and Aaron are talking about something for a few minutes, then she turns to get punch from the fridge.

"Is something wrong?" I whisper to Aaron.

"Just forget it Sam." He says.

"Dude, what's going on? Did I do something?" I say under my breath.

"Here we go." Carly says, setting glasses of punch in front of us. "Why don't we go up to the studio?" Carly suggests, "I left my phone in my room, so I'll meet you guys up there" She says and pretty much runs up the stairs. Aaron heads for the stairs, but I stop him.

"What's up with you?" I ask.

"I don't think we should be friends anymore." He says.

"What?" Now I'm really confused.

"Let's just not even talk to each other if we don't have to. Freddie made it very clear that apparently I have to 'stop messing with you', so I guess that's what I'll do" He says.

"Freddie?" I ask.

"Yeah. I'm sorry Sam, but I can't be your friend according to him and I'm not getting into this drama. I thought you were different Sam." He says and walks up the stairs. Okay, I'm not hearing things, am I? He really did just say Freddie. What is going on? Freddie has a lot of explaining to do. I go out Carly's apartment and pound on his door. He opens it and is going to say something, but I beat him to it.

"What did you say to him?" I say. Okay, I kind of yell it.

"Sam…" He says, softly.

"Don't you 'Sam' me!" I shout, "What did you say to Aaron?"

"I asked him to stay away from you." He says, not even raising his voice.

"What? Are you kidding? How…. Why would you do that?" I yell.

"I don't like the guy" He says.

"So you ban him from talking to me?"

"I just asked him to stop harassing you."

"Harassing me? He wasn't harassing me! I like him!" I shout.

"You spent like an hour with him today!" He finally yells back. "I saw how freaked you looked yesterday when you came out of the elevator. I don't know what happened, but no one should do that to you."

"Everything was fine! I worked it out." I shout.

"Everything was not fine Sam! You looked like you were going to be sick and Aaron has been acting strange around you since you met him."

"Maybe that's because he liked me Freddie! Is that so hard to believe? That someone might actually want to date me?" I shout.

"I don't trust him. I was just looking out for you." He says, no longer shouting.

"It's not your job to look out for me! I can take of myself!" I shout.

"Sam, I was just_"

"No! I don't want some excuse! Stay out of my life Benson!" I shout. I stare at him and take a deep breath to calm down. "I can't believe you would do this." I say softly.

"Sam, I don't want to fight with you. I know you are upset about Aaron and I'm sorry. I'll try talking to him, if you want_"

"No you have done enough thanks" I say and turn back to Carly's door.

"I was just trying to help you, Sam. I care about you." He says taking a step towards me.

"Just don't Freddie. Don't" I say and go into Carly's apartment, leaving Freddie in the hall. Why is everything so messed up? I take deep breaths to try to calm down. This is definitely not a stress free weekend.


	12. The World Hates Me

**The World Hates Me**

**XXXXXXX**

Finally the night is over. Aaron hardly spoke two words to me the whole night and I ignored Freddie. It was just weird. So basically I just sat there pretending to listen to Carly and the conversations, but I really just wanted everyone to leave. Now it's just me and Carly in her room.

"And he is so sweet and funny." I tune back into Carly ranting about Aaron. "I think he may actually like me. I couldn't tell at first, but I think the more we hang out… I don't know, maybe something could happen."

"Yeah" I respond. She sits on the bed by me.

"Okay what's going on in that brain of yours?" She asks.

"Nothing" I say.

"Sam, you have barely spoken all night." She says, "I know you better than that."

"Freddie just…. We…. Urrrgghhh…. Freddie and I got in a fight, kind of." I say.

"You two are always fighting." She says.

"I know" I say.

"If it's bugging you so much just talk to him. You two always work it out." She says.

"Yeah, I know we do." I say. Carly smiles and walks into her bathroom.

"But what if we don't?" I say to her through the bathroom door.

"I have never seen you so upset over a fight with Freddie before." She says back.

"You're right." I say, "What's wrong with me?" I hear Carly laugh. "I'm going to go find a snack, want anything?"

"I'm good." She says. I get up from the bed, I was about to leave the room when I heard Carly ask if I was still here.

"Yeah, what's up?" I say.

"I never did thank you for everything." She says.

"Everything?" I ask.

"With Aaron. I probably never would have had the guts to talk to him before you met him and starting inviting him over." She says.

"Yeah, no problem" I say. She doesn't catch the unhappiness in my voice when I say that. "You two must really be getting along. I mean if you talk about what happened and tell him about my mom not calling me and what not."

"What?" Carly says, "I never told Aaron your mom hasn't called you. Why would I do that?" Wait, what do you mean Carly never told him? That's what he said…..

"But I thought you mentioned it to him last night." I say.

"No. I would never tell someone that. That's your personal life Sam." She says. Carly never told him. I walk out of her bedroom. I'm not even hungry anymore. I need some air. I take the elevator down to the kitchen floor. What? I'm not walking down those stairs no matter how few there are. I walk and open the door. I almost jump a little when I open it because low and behold, Freddie Benson is standing there; hand in the air ready to knock.

"Oh hey" He says softly.

"Hey" I say. I step out in the hall and close the door behind me. "What are you doing?"

"I needed to tell you something." He says.

"What?"

"I apologized to Aaron. I don't think he will ignore you anymore." He says.

"Oh thanks" I say. He looks so upset or hurt… I don't know.

"Well, I'm sorry for everything." He says and turns back to his door. "Goodnight Sam." And with that he walks into his apartment, leaving me in the hall. I feel terrible. When did this get turned around on me? Why am I the one that gets left feeling bad? I have to apologize to him. I never should have yelled at him like that. God, this boy is going to be the death of me. I'm about to knock on his door when my phone rings.

"Yeah?" I answer the phone.

"Sam, where did you go? I came down to the kitchen and you weren't there. I'm in the studio now and you aren't here either. Where are you?" Carly asks on the other end.

"Oh sorry. I needed to get some air. I'm coming back in now." I say and walk back into her apartment.

"Okay. You going to sleep in my room tonight?" She asks. I know the question sounds weird, but I've been sleeping on the couch since I got back.

"Ummmm… yeah. I'll be right up." I say.

"I'll put in a movie." Carly says and hangs up. You gotta love your best friend.

**XXXXXX**

"Oops" I say and Carly bursts out laughing. We are making pancakes and I just tried to flip mine by tossing it in the pan. You know when you throw a pancake in the air and then catch it back in the pan, it looks easy, but as my pancake on the ground can tell you… it's not. We are both laughing now and having a good time. There is music playing and we really are acting like kids.

"My turn!" Carly says. She grabs the pan and starts her pancake.

"Morning guys." Spencer says, walking out from his room.

"Morning Spence." Carly says.

"Well, aren't you two having a fun time." He says.

"Yup, you want pancakes?" Carly asks. Just then Spencer steps on my pancake.

"Not if it looks like this one." He jokes and peels the smushed pancake off his foot. I laugh.

"I'll make some eggs too." Spencer says. There is a knock on the door and Freddie walks in.

"Good morning" He says.

"Hey" Carly says.

"Want some eggs?" Spencer asks.

"Sure" Freddie answers.

"So you kids have plans for today?" Spencer asks.

"I'm just going to be lazy and not move from that couch." I say.

"I invited Aaron over to work on that project for science class." Carly says.

"I didn't know that." I say.

"Yeah, I invited him last night."

"No, that we had a science project." I say. Everyone laughs.

**XXXXXXX**

"Hey Aaron." Carly says, letting him in the apartment.

"Hey." He says. I'm watching TV on the couch and Freddie is on the computer.

"I'm gonna go. My mom needs me to clean." Freddie says and walks past Carly and Aaron and out the door. Random… he has to be avoiding Aaron. That's really awkward.

"Well okay. Bye." Carly says. "Want something to drink?" She asks Aaron.

"Sure" He says. Carly walks into the kitchen. Aaron walks up to me.

"Hey Sam" He says.

"Hey" I say.

"So I just wanted to say that I shouldn't have gone off on you like I did last night." He says.

"It's okay" I say.

"No, it wasn't fair." He says. He takes a step closer to me and whispers in my ear, "And I like you Sam. I really like you." Okay, this honestly sent a shiver down my spine. He walks into the kitchen and starts talking to Carly. That was just too creepy. I turn my attention back to the TV….

"Sam, we are going to go work in the studio" Carly says. I look up and realize 30 minutes have passed.

"Yeah, okay." I say and they walk up the stairs. I sit and flip through channels for a bit then go to the fridge to get some juice. I'm on my way back to the couch when I see Aaron's backpack by the table. He probably needs that, right? I set down my juice and grab the backpack. Of course it's not zipped and all these papers fall out on the floor.

"Urrrgghh" I groan and kneel down and start gathering the papers. Something catches my eye; I grab the piece of paper. It has my name on it, my full name and my mom's name and Melanie's. What is this? I look at another piece. It's a list. A list of all my favorite bands and movies, all in Aaron's handwriting. I shuffle through the papers. Every piece is either a review of my top movies, or lists of songs from my favorite bands, or MMA fighters. My heart is racing as I look from paper to paper. I find a handwritten list… a list of me? It has what I was wearing each day, how I did my hair, and every conversation between Aaron and I. I'm going to be sick. Next, I see this printed out list of numbers… what is this? There are dates and times and…. Phone numbers? Wait, that's Carly's number and there is Freddie's too. Hold on that's my house number with the date and time next to it… I called my house at that exact time. These are the phone calls I made! Oh…my…. God… these are my phone records. This is how he knew my mom never called me! I shove all the papers back into the backpack and stand up. What do I do? I can't breathe. I run out of Carly's apartment and pound on Freddie's door. As soon as he opens it, I walk in and shut the door.

"Whoa there." He says, "What's going on?"

"You were right." I say.

"What?"

"About Aaron. You were right." I say. My mind is spinning and I think Freddie can tell, I can read it on his face.

"What happened?" He asks.

"His backpack is filled with papers about me. My favorite bands, movies, food. There are lists of what I wore each day and our conversations. My address, phone number, my full name, my family's names! And a copy of my phone record, which is how he found out my mom hasn't called me." I'm out of breath, "I'm freaking out, Freddie." I'm pacing back and forth. I can't have this right now… does someone in the world hate me? Is that it? The whole world must be against me.

"Sam. Sam, calm down." Freddie says, "it's okay."

"No it's not Freddie! It is so far from okay." I snap at him. Crap…. I'm going to cry. I can feel it. No, no, don't you dare cry Sam! I'm just so freaked and frustrated. All my emotions are going nuts.

"Just breathe Sam. You are not helping yourself by freaking out. It will be okay." He says. Tears are filling up in my eyes. Crap. Just hold them in…. too late. Tears start streaming down my face. Freddie brings me into a hug. Then I stop holding back the tears. And yes this is now the second time I have cried in front of Freddie.

"I can't do this" I sob.

"I'll take care of this. I can go get some of the papers and tell Spencer and my mom, we can get a restraining order or something. It will be okay." He says holding me.

"Okay." I say. I wipe my eyes and look at him. "I'm sorry"

"I know" He says, "We should go get the papers and you can stay here until Aaron leaves, and then we will tell Carly." I just nod and try to gather myself. Freddie and I walk out his door and into Carly's apartment.

"It's right by the kitchen tab_" I stop midsentence and look, the bag is gone. Freddie and I exchange worried glances. You have to be kidding me.


	13. Creepy

**Creepy**

**XXXXXXX**

"Wha…. What? Oh no… no… you have to be kidding me..." I stutter, "It was right there." I point to the empty space where the backpack once was.

"It's fine we will just get the backpack another time." He says. I give him a look. "Soon. We will find it soon. He is always over and he'll set his bag down at some point so we will get it soon." He tries to say reassuringly.

"What are the chances of that ever happening?" I say.

"Soon. Okay? We will just wait for a bit, but we will get it." He says. I know he is just saying that. I mean what are the chances that we will just be able to get his backpack away from him? He did leave it on the floor this time, but who is to say that will ever happen again? I walk towards the stairs and start heading up.

"Where are you going?" Freddie asks. I turn to him on the stairs.

"I will not let Carly be alone with him." I say and keep walking up the stairs. I mean if this guy has been watching me…. Or studying me or whatever, I get chills just thinking about it, there is no way I'm letting him near Carly alone. I know, I'm protective, just get over it. Even though Aaron seems to only be focused on me, I am not going to trust him around any of my friends. I make it up to the studio and yeah, stairs once again were a bad idea. Why do I feel I need to take them to prove a point? I need to relax after this. I walk to the door and stop. Whoever thought of making this door so you could see through it is an idiot. I see Carly and Aaron in the middle of a kiss! Crap! Great, my best friend and my creep stalker are lip locking, that's just great. They quickly break apart. I step away from the door so they won't see me and lean against the wall. Freddie makes his way up the stairs; I knew he was behind me.

"What are you doing?" He asks.

"My life sucks." I say.

"Uhhh?" He says.

"Aaron and Carly kissed." I say right to the point.

"Oh crap." He says.

"My thoughts exactly." I say. Our conversation is interrupted by Aaron walking out of the studio. All three of us just stop and stare at each other. It's like that awkward run in and no one is talking. Aaron just nods his head and walks past us and down the stairs.

"What was that?" Freddie asks. I don't answer him; I just walk into the studio.

"Carly?" I ask. I see her lying face down in a bean bag.

"Go away." She mumbles. Freddie walks in behind me and gives a confused look at Carly.

"What's the matter?" I ask. She doesn't know I saw her and Aaron kissing.

"I don't want to talk about it." She says.

"Carly" Freddie says. She jumps up from the bean bag and turns to us. Her cheeks are red, I think she was crying.

"I just want to be alone" She says and walks passed us, out the door. She slammed it too by the way.

"That can't be good" Freddie says.

"And this day just keeps getting better and better." I say sarcastically.

**XXXXXX**

"You wanna talk about it now?" I ask Carly. We are in her room, sitting on her bed, getting ready to watch a movie and go to sleep for the night. Carly pretty much locked herself in her room all day. It took me 15 minutes of telling her to unlock the door before she finally let me in. I still want to…. No need to find out what happened with Aaron earlier today.

"Not really" She says.

"Look we are not going to bed until you tell me." I say. She groans and falls back on the bed.

"I'm so stupid" She says.

"No you're not" I tell her.

"Yes I am. I can't believe I actually thought he liked me."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well we were both being flirty, at least I thought so, and I thought today he was really into me, but just too shy to make a move or say anything…. So I ended up just going for it and I kissed him! Just flat out kissed him with no warning or anything. So stupid." She says.

"What happened after that?" I ask.

"Nothing. He broke off the kiss, practically pushed me away, within a few seconds. Oh god it was so embarrassing." She says. So Carly kissed Aaron, but Aaron pushed her away because he didn't want to kiss her even though he has been flirting with her for the past few days and I am pretty sure he didn't kiss Carly because he is obsessed with me, literally….. I think if I tell Carly that… well actually I have no idea what would happen if I tell her. Freddie wanted to tell her earlier today, but I made him swear he wouldn't say anything. I am going to be the one to tell her when it's the right time. Which is not now.

"Did he say why he pushed you away?" I ask.

"No he just stared at me like I committed the biggest crime against him or something, then he just left without saying one word." She says.

"Well just forget about him. He is not even worth it." I say, trying to sound convincing and not sound like even talking about him gives the chills, not the good kind of course.

"Are you kidding? He is perfect and I just totally screwed it up. He will probably never speak to me again." She whines. That's a good thing; I would give anything to have him stop speaking to me.

"He is far from perfect." I say under my breath, Carly doesn't hear me.

"Well enough about my most embarrassing day ever. What did you do?" She asks.

"Well since you locked yourself in here all day, I was _forced_ to hang out with the nerd." I say emphasizing the word 'forced'.

"Yeah, I'm sure." She says sarcastically.

"Why was that sarcastic?" I question.

"You would hang out with Freddie even if you weren't forced, which you weren't." She says.

"No I wouldn't." I say. Okay, I'm lying, but that answer is just reflex.

"You liar" She says, "You guys are friends and I can tell that you two enjoy hanging out with each other… a little more lately too."

"What are you getting to, Shay?"

"Oh, nothingggggggg" She says.

"Yeah, whatever." I say.

**XXXXXX**

I gasp awake by the sound of my phone going off. I look around the room and try to slow down my heart, it's beating like crazy. That dream again, I think it's getting worse. I have never been this stirred by it before. I focus my attention and grab my phone, a new text message.

**Sam? You awake? –A**

I look at the clock 4:39am. What is he doing texting me now? Yeah, not going to answer. I lie back down and shut my eyes. A few minutes later I hear my phone again. Oh come on. I groan and look at my phone.

**I want 2 talk 2 u –A**

Seriously? Who wakes someone up at 4 in the morning to "talk"? I just ignore it. My phone goes off again. You have to be kidding me.

**U wanna hang out tomorrow? –A**

I turn my phone off. Goodnight creep.

**XXXXXX**

Urrrgghhh… I hate Mondays. Why must they exist? I throw books into my locker. Yesterday was actually stress free. I kept my phone off all day yesterday and today not looking forward to seeing Aaron; Freddie said he will take any opportunity to get his backpack, but what are the chances of that. Plus I don't want the creep to know that I know about it. I haven't told Carly yet, I mean this is kind of out there, she would believe me but I want to have the proof.

"Having a bad morning?" I turn and face Aaron. I think I freeze for a second; he leans up against the lockers.

"Yeah." I say remembering that I need to act like I am not beyond creeped out by him.

"So I tried texting you yesterday" He says. Yeah, I know. You did text me like 8 times.

"Yeah, sorry. My phone has been whacked out lately." I say. Where is Carly or Freddie when you need them? And of course right after I say my phone is whacked, it goes off. I hate my life. Aaron gives me this creepy look; he knows I lied about my phone.

**Freddie and I are in class already. Sorry the teacher needed to ask us a question :/ -C **

Of course, well that is just perfect. I can feel Aaron staring at me. I don't text Carly back. I put my phone back in my pocket and give a fake smile at Aaron. He smiles back, but not a good one, it looks like he is almost amused; creepy…. I really don't have any other word to describe this kid.

"I thought your phone was broken" He says.

"Well yeah." I say, "We should get to class. Talk to you later." I walk away and down the hall. Crap, he is still behind me, I know he is.

"Sam, hold on." I hear him say. I keep walking like I didn't hear him. I'm stopped because he grabs my arm, hard… and turns me to him. I grunt in pain, he isn't letting go.

"Let go." I tell him. We are close, I mean uncomfortably close.

"I know that you know." He says. What? How could he know? The papers kind of crumpled when they fell out, I guess. I don't know… someone has to come down this hall, right? Where are people when you need them? This is so not good.


	14. Blank

**Blank**

**XXXXXXX**

Wha—what? Let me- me g—go" I stumble on my words. Well that didn't sound tough or convincing at all. My arm is really starting to hurt. I can't pull away.

"Sorry" He says and let's go of my arm. I quickly take a few steps away from him. "Look I know you know, but Sam it was no big deal."

"What?" I ask. It's actually a really big deal you stalker.

"Carly kissed me, that's it. I know you saw but I need to tell you that it meant nothing. I pushed her away. I like you, Sam." He says, taking a step towards me. I quickly take another step back; I'm definitely failing at not looking nervous. That is what he was talking about? The kiss? I can feel the panic leave me now that I know he doesn't know about the backpack.

"Oh yeah, I know. Carly told me, but nothing is going to happen between us." I say.

"No don't say that, Sam. I know you don't mean it."

"I do mean it." I snap at him, getting my nerve back, "I'm serious." I see this angry look flash across his face but he quickly softens it.

"Sam" He says, and takes another step towards me. Once again I quickly step away; I want a safe distance between us.

"Look, I'm sorry Aaron, but I don't like you, so_"

"But we have so much in common" He says. Yeah we have a lot in common because you looked up everything about me!

"I have to get to class" I say.

"Wait." He says and quickly walks towards me so I can't back up fast enough and he is once again too close. "Let's hang out, just one day. Today, after school?"

"No" I say.

"Why not" He asks all upset. Why not, well let's see I think anyone with a brain would punch me in the face if I agreed to go anywhere with you; it would be the stupidest thing ever. I still haven't answered him yet, I'm trying to think of something to say besides "I can't". Why not?...

"Because she is busy." I hear someone say. I look to my left and see Freddie walking towards us. Thank god. "Sam and I have plans today; we are also late for class, so we will see you later Aaron." Freddie says, almost protectively. Aaron just glares at Freddie. This is weird, they are like having a mental 'macho- man' contest. They both glare at each other for a minute.

"Fine. I'll talk to you later Sam." Aaron says and walks down the hallway, leaving me and Freddie. I take a deep breath.

"You okay?" Freddie asks.

"Yeah" I say softly. My hands are slightly shaking, Freddie notices.

"Sam, what happened? What did he do?" He asks, slightly angry.

"Nothing. He just scared me, I thought he knew about the backpack, but it was about kissing Carly and he just grabbed me and_"

"He grabbed you?" He says, now that was said with a lot of anger.

"Kind of" I say.

"Let me see, is your arm okay?" Freddie asks and comes closer to me. He gently grabs my arm and rolls up my sleeve. Aaron's grip didn't bruise me, but you can definitely see where his hand was; it's all red.

"Freddie?" I ask. He is still looking at my arm. I'm trying to read his face; he looks angry, and kind of worried. Is he worried because I got hurt? I gently pull my arm away from Freddie to snap him out of it. "Freddie?" I say again. He just looks at me. He is almost as close as Aaron was, but it's not uncomfortable, like Aaron. I start rolling down my sleeve, I'm struggling a bit, due to the fact I'm using my left hand and it will not stay steady.

"Here." Freddie says and helps me roll my sleeve down.

"Thanks" I say. You know, I have never actually looked, like really looked at Freddie before. Now standing this close to him, I see his eyes, brown, but not in the dull and plain sense, it's different…. He definitely has his crazy mother's eyes.

"You have your mother's eyes" I say. I don't even realize that I just said that out loud. Crap! I really did just say that out loud! Freddie looks confused. Well of course he is confused; I just randomly talked about his eyes!

"Is that a good thing?" He asks with a smile. A really cute, one of a kind, Freddie Benson smile. I don't think he has genuinely smiled like that for a few weeks.

"Uhhhh…. Just a fact." I say.

"I see" He says.

"Well we should get to class." I say and take a few steps down the hall.

"Yeah" He says and walks up to me. "Oh you have your mom's eyes too" He says and walks down the hall, leaving me a few steps behind him. I smile, smooth Benson. I turn and walk to him and we go to class.

**XXXXXX**

The end of the day, finally. Mondays always take the longest to end. I wait for Carly at our lockers, she should be here by now, this girl takes forever; doesn't she know I want to leave.

"Sam!" I jump the sound of her overly- excited voice. Carly practically runs up to me with this ridiculous grin on her face.

"Whoa, someone is in a good mood" I say.

"I'm SO happy!" She says.

"I can tell" I say.

"Why is she so happy?" Freddie says walking up to us.

"No idea" I say.

"He isn't mad at me! We talked and he is coming over after school and is totally cool everything!" Carly says a million miles a second. Oh no.

"Who?" Freddie asks. Wow, he could be really stupid sometimes.

"Aaron." "Aaron!" Carly and I say at the same time, she was way more excited than I, obviously.

"He apologized for freaking out, which I mean is understandable I kind of jumped him, you know?" Carly says.

"Wait, he is coming over after school?" I ask.

"Yep" She says. No, he can't come over; I want this kid out of my life and nowhere near Carly or me. I have to tell her about Aaron.

"Carly you can't have Aaron come over" I say trying to approach this carefully.

"Why not?" She asks.

"Because he_" I start….

"Hold on a sec" Freddie tells Carly and pulls me away.

"What?" I say irritated. I was just about to tell her and Freddie interrupts me.

"I think we should have Aaron come over." He says.

"What?" I say again, "Freddie I can't have him come over. I can't."

I know, I know." He says, "But this could be our chance to get in his backpack."

"Freddie, I don't_"

"Sam, I promise you nothing bad will happen. You won't even have to be near him. I'll get in his backpack and find some of the papers and then we will tell Carly tonight." He says. I am hesitant at first, but he is right. I trust him, I do.

"Okay" I say and walk back to Carly.

"What was that about?" She asks.

"Nothing, Freddie was just being dumb." I say. She just rolls her eyes.

**XXXXXX**

"Hey guys, I need to talk to you." Spencer shouts when he walks into the apartment. I look up from the couch, Freddie walks to the couch from the kitchen, Carly comes down the stairs from her room. What is this about?

"What's going on Spencer?" Carly asks.

"We should talk. Sit." He says. All three of us give him really confused looks, but slowly Carly and Freddie join me on the couch. Carly sits on my right and Freddie is next to her. We are all sitting there, waiting for Spencer to say something.

"Look I don't know where to start." He says flustered.

"Is everything okay?" Carly worriedly asks her brother.

"It's about court" Spencer says. I suddenly get a little excited; finally, I have been wanting to tell the court what a little sleaze ball that Roy guy is since I got out of the hospital. He helped the people who kidnapped Carly and if he thought he was just going to get away with it, he is wrong.

"Finally" I say. Spencer takes a deep breath. I have never seen him like this before.

"You guys, I'm sorry, but it is not going to happen." He says.

"What?" Carly asks.

"They don't have enough tangible proof on Roy, not enough to bring to court anyway." He says.

"What?" Freddie and I say at the same time. Carly stays silent.

"Look, they have the phone records, but it just says that the phone called the Mongery Motel; there is no evidence that it was Roy that answered the phone. Everything is hear-say and without hard core evidence, it cannot be brought to court." He says.

"You have to be kidding me!" I say.

"I'm really sorry you guys and Detective Burke said he is truly sorry; they did everything they could, but they can't bring Roy to court. There is just not enough to prosecute him" He says. Of course, this would happen. None of us say anything. "I'll leave you guys alone" Spencer says and leaves the room. We sit there in silence for a minute.

"I can't believe this." Freddie says.

"It is actually not that bad" Carly says.

"What?" I say.

"I mean, there really was nothing on Roy and now… I don't know, we could really just get on with our lives." She says.

"No Carly! This guy has to_" Freddie starts; I know I never would have thought Freddie would disagree with her either.

"She is right" I say interrupting Freddie. I can see that both of them are shocked.

"You agree?" Carly asks.

"Yeah, I do. I'm just done with this." I say. Carly nods in agreement. "All of it" I add, this was towards Aaron; Freddie understands, Carly doesn't of course, but she will tonight after we get Aarons backpack.

"Good. And as cliché has it sounds we still have each other." Carly says. I smile, that is so Carly.

"Yeah, we do" Freddie says. There is a knock on the door.

"Oh there is Aaron" Carly says and answers the door.

"Hey" Carly says.

"Hey" Aaron says and walks inside. I stand up, Aaron looks at me. I turn and walk up the stairs to get away.

"Well, that was weird" I hear Carly say as I head up the stairs to her room.

**XXXXXX**

I stay in Carly's room for almost an hour, just watching TV. Carly texted me saying that they were all going up to the studio now. I get up and start walking down the stairs; I stop almost at the bottom when I hear Aaron.

"What are you doing?" I hear Aaron ask.

"Oh nothing, man" That was Freddie. I peak around the wall and see Aaron and Freddie in the kitchen. Freddie is holding the backpack! Oh crap.

"Then why are you going through my backpack?" Aaron asks.

"I needed the science notes from today" Freddie says.

"You could have asked" Aaron says.

"You weren't here, sorry. I'll see you in the studio." I see Freddie hand the backpack to Aaron and head towards the stairs. He walks up the stairs and sees me. He puts his finger over his lips, telling me to be quiet. We both walk up the stairs and into the hallway outside Carly's room.

"What happened? Did you get it?" I ask.

"Sam, there was nothing in the backpack" He says. Freddie worriedly looks at me. My mind goes blank; I can't even think.


	15. Records

**Records**

**XXXXXX**

"Sam?" Freddie whispers. I can't even speak. We were so close to getting proof. "Sam" Freddie calls me again. Still no words come to me. Freddie places a hand on my shoulder, I shrug it off; I don't even know why. Freddie looks hurt, I didn't mean to hurt his feelings, I want to apologize but my mind doesn't seem to want to work and I can't focus enough to say anything. I just walk into Carly's room and shut the door, leaving Freddie in the hall. I hear him softly knock on the door and call my name again, but I just throw myself onto the bed. Soon I hear Freddie sigh and walk away. I stare at the ceiling; I can't even bring myself to cry, my throat is dry. I just stare.

I don't even know how much time passes before I hear another knock on the door. I don't move for a minute and I feel one lone tear fall down my cheek. I wipe it away and get up to open the door.

"Freddie, I don't_" I start until I actually realize it isn't Freddie standing on the other side of the door.

"Hey" Aaron says with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" I ask. He keeps staring at me. I know I look disheveled, my cheeks feel red and my hair really needs to be brushed, but I don't care. I am seriously tempted to slam this door in his face.

"You disappeared, I was just curious where you went" He says, but for some reason I know that's not the complete truth.

"Well you found me so goodbye" I say not friendly at all. I'm done pretending to like this guy.

"Whoa, that was harsh" He says, smiling. It's creepy but I think he is enjoying seeing me all wound up.

"Yeah well it was meant to be" I snap.

"Now why would that be?" He asks. What….. Is he honestly taunting me right now? He doesn't want to start this. I know I should just ignore it and go back in Carly's room, but I'm on edge and an on edge Sam Puckett never does things rationally.

"Oh I think you know why." I say and take a threatening step towards him. Any other person right now would know back off, but Aaron still continues to smile.

"Sam, I don't know what you're talking about" He says, but I know he does; we both do.

"Stay away from me and stay away from Carly" I threaten.

"Oh Sammy, you know Carly is no interest to me" He says with that stupid grin on his face!

"DO. NOT. Call me Sammy" I growl through my teeth, "and don't you dare talk about Carly"

"I heard you were protective over your friends Sammy, but tell me who is it that protects you?" He says with a humorous tone. This is fun for him! That's it, I whip the back of my hand hard across his cheek, and I mean really hard, you could hear the slap hit him. His head falls to one side and he takes a step back. I basically punched him, but in slap form.

"SAM!" Oh no, no. I look towards the voice and see Carly running towards us. "What's wrong with you?" Carly shouts at me and goes to Aaron. "Are you okay?" Carly sweetly asks him. I'm going to be sick, this guy is playing Carly and it ends now.

"No, Carly you don't understand_" I start.

"Apologize to him!" She tells me. I know she doesn't know what's going on and I shouldn't get angry, but I do anyway. I love Carly, but she has always been quick to blame everything on me.

"Carly, it's fine" Aaron says. He even laughs a little and grins right at me, "I heard Sam could hit like none other, I just wanted to see if what people said were true. I dared her to slap me."

"Oh" Carly says. She lets out a little laugh, "Well that wasn't the smartest thing ever. Sam has quite an arm on her." She jokes.

"Yeah, she does." He says right at me. There is no way Carly could buy this crap.

"What's going on?"

"We heard shouting." I hear Freddie and Spencer say as they both walk into the hallway.

"Everything is fine" Carly says with a smile. I give Freddie a glance and he knows exactly what I was thinking.

"Aaron I think you should go" Freddie says.

"What, no you guys nothing happened." Carly says. I see Spencer look at me, then at Aaron, then Freddie. I think he knows something isn't right.

"Actually Aaron you should get going. It's a school night and we are going to have dinner soon." Spencer says. Thank you Spencer!

"Why can't Aaron stay for dinner?" Carly asks. Come on Carly! Get with the program!

"Because he needs to leave" Spencer tells her. Carly shakes her head and then looks at me. I see in her face she finally realizes something is wrong.

"Alright, thanks for having me over. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Aaron says and quickly walks passed us and down the stairs. No one moves or speaks until we hear the front door close. I let out a sigh of relief. Carly turns to me.

"What in the world is going on?" She asks me.

"We have to talk." I tell her. She knows it's not good, I mean are those words ever used in a good way? The phone rings and Spencer leaves to go answer it. Freddie walks closer to us and asks if I'm okay.

"Okay, will someone please tell me what's going on?" Carly demands.

"Come on" I say and walk into her room with Carly and Freddie following. We all sit down and I begin to tell her. "Well I guess it all really started the first time I met Aaron…"

**XXXXXX**

"And that's why I slapped him a bit ago." I say, finishing the story. Carly stays silent. "I'm sorry Carly. Are you okay?" I ask.

"Am I okay?" She repeats, "Sam… why wouldn't you tell me this?" She looks right at me, she looks so hurt. I mean she as a reason to be, I kept all of this from her. She probably feels like I didn't trust her, which isn't right at all.

"Carly, I'm so sorry. I wanted to but I was just so confused and I didn't know what to do and on top of everything else; I just didn't know…." I say.

"But I'm your best friend, I just feel terrible that you thought you couldn't tell me." She says.

"I know" I say, "You just liked him so much and I didn't have proof_"

"Did you think I wouldn't believe you because I liked him?" Carly asks with a little anger.

"I know it sounds horrible, but I really didn't know and I was just trying to protect you, I didn't want this to hurt you" I say. Carly gets up and sits next to me on the bed.

"Sam" She says softly, "You have to stop trying to protect me, please. You have to tell me things and not keep it bottled up. I know you Sam, you think you have to protect everyone, but just stop. We can do this together. We will get Aaron together." Carly always knows exactly what to say.

"You're the best." I tell her. We hug. I needed that, I needed my best friend.

"So what exactly was your guy's plan?" She asks.

"Freddie was going to try to get Aaron's backpack" I say.

"I see that didn't go so well" She jokes.

"Hey now" Freddie says pretending he is offended. I laugh a little.

"Yeah, it wasn't the best plan ever." I say.

"Clearly" She jokes again.

"I blame Benson" I joke.

"Oh definitely" Carly adds, we both laugh.

"Hey! When did this turn into a pick on Freddie session?" He exclaims.

"Haha, sorry Freddie" Carly says.

"So we need another way to find those papers." Freddie says.

"Mood kill!" I say in a sing song voice jokingly.

"Well we have to think of something." He says. We all think for minute.

"No idea" I say breaking the silence.

"Me either" Carly says.

"Nada" Freddie adds.

"Great, so we have nothing." I say.

"You what I want to know… Why did he even come here in the first place?" Carly asks.

"He said that his dad moves around a lot because of his job." I say.

"I heard that too but there are rumors going around that he got expelled from his last school." Carly says.

"Expelled for what?" Freddie asks.

"I have no idea" Carly responds.

"That's so weird" I say. I knew there was something he was hiding; we have to find out.

"Maybe the reason would be on his school records." Freddie suggests.

"Maybe, but aren't all the student's personal flies locked in Principal Franklin's office?" Carly asks.

"Yeah, behind his desk." Freddie says.

"Well how we would possibly get his records?" I ask, "It's not like Franklin will just hand them over to us and I don't want this stalker information to be brought up without any proof."

"We will just have to break into his office." Freddie says. What? Did Freddie Benson really just suggest that? Carly looks equally surprised.

"You have to be kidding." Carly says, "Freddie, how in the world would we do that! That's insane!"

"We can come up with something." He says.

"I can't believe you are even suggesting this." I say.

"I'm just saying we could_"

"Freddie! Your mom wants you home!" We hear Spencer shout.

"Urrgghh… well we will talk about this later, but I think it could work." He says, "I'll see you guys tomorrow." He grabs his jacket and walks out of Carly's room.

"Okay what was that?" Carly asks me.

"What?"

"Freddie just said we should break into the Principal's office." She says.

"I know, who would have thought" I say. She gives me this weird look. "Why are you looking at me like that, Shay?"

"I think it's because of you" She says.

"Wait, what?" I ask.

"Why, Freddie would want to break into the office; it's totally because of you, you know." She says.

"I think you are losing it. Why would he do that?" I ask.

"Come on Sam! You are obviously wearing off on him, he just suggested breaking into Franklin's office; that is something you would do and he didn't even have to second guess his decision. I know he wouldn't break the rules for just anyone." She says with a goofy smile.

"No. Oh no." I ramble shaking my head. I stand up from the bed. "Freddie is just being a good _friend_."

"Uh huh" She says not believing it. "You two have been together a lot since everything, _without _me and without fighting." … I never really thought about that. Crap, she is right. Why is Freddie doing this for me? But I mean he could do it for anyone not just me. Well we haven't been fighting for a while either. And I did tell him all this Aaron stuff before Carly. When did I start going to Freddie for help? Things have been changing between us and I haven't even noticed. When did I get so blind to everything around me?

"I'm going to take your silence as you know what I'm talking about" Carly says.

"Whatever" I say and walk into her bathroom.

"You know I'm right!" She says. I slam the door as my response and I hear Carly laugh on the other side.

**XXXXXX**

"There is no way this going to work" Carly says for the tenth time. She is really anxious and won't stay still.

"Carly it's a good plan" I say.

"You guys all set?" Freddie says walking up to us.

"There is no way this is going to work" Carly says again.

"It will." Freddie says.

"Let's go." I say. We go and walk into the school office. I walk nonchalant across the office, pretending to read the posters.

"Excuse me, I need to_" I hear Carly turn her sweet charm on and distract the secretary, while I creep back and quietly open the door to Franklin's office. I step inside and start searching for the right file cabinet. It doesn't take long to find it and with my lock picking skills it's open within a few seconds. Come on where is it? I flip through all the files looking for Aaron's.

"Find it?" I hear someone whisper behind me. I jump and whip around.

"Freddie! Don't do that!" I whisper shout at him.

"Sorry. We need to hurry. Carly can't keep asking questions about the copier forever."

"I'm going as fast as I can" I say and turn back to the cabinet. Freddie walks up next to me. He starts to try to flip through the cabinet too, I slap his hands away; they are we getting in the way.

"It's in alphabetical order" He says.

"I know" I say.

"You're going the wrong way." He says and starts thumbing flies the other way. I shove him.

"No, I'm not!" I say.

"There" Freddie says as I grab Aaron's file. He comes closer to me and we open the file.

"Okay transferred from Mountain Hill High School…" Freddie says reading down the file; he starts murmuring off parents' names and his grades and yada yada.

"Wait!" I say as something catches my eye and turn back the page. "Look, it has that he was expelled from his old school before he came here."

"Expelled for what?" Freddie asks.

"It doesn't say" We quickly flip pages trying to find something.

"Whoa" Freddie says and stops on a page with really bad handwriting on it, like doctor looking handwriting. How does anyone read this? I squint and try to figure some of it out. I start to piece some of the words together.

"Is this a court record?" I ask.

"Aaron was accused for harassment and a minor break-in charge a few months ago." He says his voice in utter shock.

"Accused by who? What happened?" I ask.

"A girl named Grace Matthews and nothing happened, the accusations were never brought to court. They were dropped, but Aaron still got expelled from the school." He says.

"What's that?" I point to what looks like a newspaper clipping in his file. Freddie pulls it out. My heart honestly stops. It's a newspaper clipping about Aaron's accusations in a local town paper. I don't even read it, but what stops me is the picture. I'm guessing it's the Grace girl, she is petite with long blond hair and grayish blue eyes.

"That looks like you" Freddie whispers. It's not exactly a match, but you can see the likeness.

"So he has done this before." I whisper. I can't take anymore; I leave Freddie and walk out of the office. I hear him call my name but I don't turn around. I walk passed Carly, she gives me a worried look, but I don't stop again. I practically run down the hall and out the door of the school. I run and stop to breathe by the big oak tree on the side of the school and before I know it my stomach fails me and I throw up, I crotch down and hold my stomach just trying to breathe.

"Deep breaths, Sam. It's alright. Just breathe." I mutter to myself.

"Are you alright?" I hear someone say behind me, but I know exactly who it is. I freeze for a second before I stand and face him.

"Aaron." I say, fear and anger escaping through me just by saying his name.


	16. I Think It Will Be Okay Now

**I Think It Will Be Okay Now**

**XXXXXXXX**

"Sam" He says with a sly grin on his face. My heart is racing. He takes a step closer. I stare at him with all the anger and hate I'm feeling, we are less than three feet away. As angry as I am, I'm not stupid; I'm not going to get into anything, I need a way to get back into the school. He chuckles and smiles at me, clearly entertained by this. Now that is exactly what makes me nervous with this kid; he is not intimidated at all. He is too confident for his own good and it pisses me off. Though I can't help but to smile myself when I see that his cheek has a light bluish- purple tint to it, right where I hit him last night.

"Nice face." I spit at him, trying to get the upper hand.

"Nice legs." He replies, his eyes scanning over my body. He is just trying to throw me off; don't lose it, Sam. I just roll my eyes and take the opportunity to try to head back to school. As soon as I turn slightly to take a step, Aaron had already grabbed me and trapped me between him and the Oak tree. He pushes me hard against the tree, pain ripples down my back, but I don't drop my icy stare at him. With my free hand, I grab his wrist and dig my nails into it, trying to force him to let go of arm. He just laughs.

"You're going to have to try better than that" He says, pressing closer to me. I can feel his breath on my face. I turn my face to not feel so close to him.

"We have to get to class." I say. I have to get out of this. Come on, Sam, do something! I shove him with everything I have, he stumbles back and let goes of my arm for a second, but he quickly adjusts and wraps an arm around my waist and pushes me back into my tree. This time I can't help but to let out a painful gasp when I hit the tree. I shut my eyes tight, feeling the pain run through my body and then settle down. I'm breathing deep, trying to focus. I feel Aaron's hand stroke against my cheek and push my hair behind my ear. I open my eyes as Aaron cups my face in his hand, his thumb tracing my jawbone.

"God, you're something else." He says. Is he really _admiring_ me right now? I'm gonna be sick. I don't know how much more fight I can take. "I heard a lot about you when I got here; how strong you were and how you went to find your friend and ended up in the hospital after fighting off the kidnappers. You're reputation precedes you Sam, but it doesn't do you justice. And_"

"Shut up" I say. He just smiles and continues.

"And I must say, you don't disappoint." He says, his hand moves down, off my face, and traces my collarbone, "Not at all." I shiver under his touch, chills going down my spine; the kinds of chills that make you want to run away and make you feel sick. My heart isn't settling down, this is not good. So not good, why is this happening to me?

"Get the hell away from me" I snarl roughly even though there's weakness dripping through my voice.

"No" He whispers. He leans towards me and kisses my neck and his hand tangles in my hair. I gasp from the shock of the kiss. Okay, did not see that coming. He brings his lips to my ear and I hear him take deep breaths. Yeah, this is where I officially start to panic. I furiously pound on his chest, trying to get me him off of me.

"Get off of me!" I shout. I keep shoving him, but it's pointless, I can't move him.

"Someone's feisty" He jokes. His thumb brushes over my lips. Please don't kiss me, oh crap, please don't. I think I imagine the sound at first, but then I realize my phone is ringing. Before Aaron can stop me, I grab my phone from my pocket and flip it open. I am about to talk when Aaron covers my mouth with his hand.

"Don't speak" He harshly whispers in my ear.

"Sam?" I hear Carly say from the phone, "Sam are you there?"

"If I don't say anything, she'll know something is wrong" I say to him.

"Fine, but lie to her or there will be trouble" He whispers. He grabs my hand and places the phone by my ear.

"Carly" I say into the phone, trying to calm my voice.

"Sam, where did go? Freddie told me what happened and the file with that Grace girl. Look we will get Aaron. Spencer said he will come pick us, we are ditching today. Where are you?" Carly says quickly, I don't even think she took a breath.

"I needed some air, I freaked out but I'll meet you guys at the locker" I say.

"Okay, but Sam_" Carly starts but Aaron shuts my phone. I stare at him, he looks so on edge.

"I have to go, you know I have too." I say. I'm in control now. He smiles and let's go of me; taking a step back. I take a calming breath.

"I don't want you to hate me, Sam." He says. Are you kidding?

"You're crazy" I say, "I know everything. I know about Grace."

"No. no. no." He rambles, "You are not Grace. She wasn't right, but you, you are so perfect."

"You're sick" I snap at him, "and I hate you. Stay away from me" I turn and run as fast as I can back into the school; I don't stop until I'm through the front doors and realize he is not following me. I lean against the wall and slide door to floor trying to slow down my heart and calm down.

"Sam?" I hear someone say. I look up and see Ms. Harris coming towards me looking worried. "Honey, are you alright? You are breathing really heavy." She kneels down to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. I shake my head, I can't do this. I don't care if I don't have proof on Aaron, I know the truth and I have to get real help, so in one quick ranting story I tell Ms. Harris everything. When I'm finished I'm almost in tears just from thinking about it all again. Ms. Harris looks frightened and very concerned.

"Alright, you are going home with Carly and Freddie now?" She asks.

"Yeah, Carly said Spencer is coming to get us." I say.

"Okay, Sam you go by Carly and Freddie and go home. I am going to go talk to Principal Franklin right now." She says and stands up. I slowly stand up too.

"I don't know what to do" I say.

"Just go home, I'll call you as soon as I talk to Principal Franklin and we will see what to do. We will most likely call the police and at least get a restraining order and go from there."

"Okay" I say and leave to meet Carly and Freddie. It will be okay. Everything will work out. I keep telling myself this over and over.

"Sam" I hear Freddie say. I see him and Carly waiting for me. My face must say everything because they both ask what happened and if I am alright.

"Not here" I answer.

**XXXXXXX**

We are all sitting on the couch. Carly is looking at me worriedly and Freddie looks down right pissed. I just told them everything that happened with Aaron when I ran out of the school.

"Oh my God, Sam" Carly says, "I didn't even know he was there when I called you."

"It's okay." I say.

"That crazy… you know what" Carly says. I kind of smile when she says this, it's so Carly. She is too cute. I glance at Freddie who looks like he is going to explode any second.

"Freddie?" I say.

"I have to go." He angrily says and walks out Carly's door so fast I don't even have time to say anything before it slams, but once I see that he is leaving, I get up from the couch and follow behind him.

**XXXXXXX**

"Hey!" I shout to Freddie when I finally catch up to him in the lobby. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere" He says.

"You're lying. You are obviously planning on going somewhere if you came all the way down to the lobby" I say.

"I just need to go for a walk and relax." He says and walks out of the building. Oh no, he is not getting rid of me that easy. I follow right behind him.

"Go away Sam" He says. I walk up alongside him.

"No, not until you tell me why you are so wired up and what you are doing out here." I say.

"I just want to go for a walk."

"Good. I like walks too, don't mind if I join." I say. We walk for a few minutes in silence, now passing through the park.

"I was going to go find him" Freddie says.

"What?" I ask.

"Aaron. That's where I wanted to go after you told us what happened; I wanted to find him and I am pretty sure I would have punched him, more than once." He says.

"Turning to physical violence now Benson?" I joke.

"This isn't funny" He snaps at me.

"Okay, sit down." I say, stopping next to a park bench.

"Sam_"

"Freddie please just sit" I say. He reluctantly sits and I join him. Once again we sit in silence for a while. Freddie needs to calm down…. "The stars look beautiful tonight" I say looking up at the sky.

"Yeah, I guess they do." Freddie says glancing at the sky.

"Freddie?" I ask.

"Hmmm?" He responds. I don't even know if I should begin this conversation, but there is just something I need to know.

"Why are you doing this for me?" I ask softly.

"Doing what?"

"Everything. Helping me with Aaron and thinking of ridiculous plans to try and get proof on him. Just everything." I say.

"Because… I … I care about you. You are my good friend" I say, but for some reason he sounds unsure with what he just said. I don't think about it before hand but I end up moving closer to him and looking straight at him.

"Is that it?" I whisper. I have this weird feeling again, the one I started getting sometimes when I'm around Freddie. My stomach feels inside out. Does he feel it too?

"Well I…. there's… it's…" He mumbles trying to think of how to say something. We are so close, only a few inches apart. Then, I feel his hand against my cheek. Now, my heart flutters. He pushes hair behind my ear. I look into his eyes and he is leaning forward. Wait, is he really going to_ then I feel his lips on mine. Warmth spreads through my body. The kiss is gentle and sweet, just perfect. He breaks the kiss and looks at me; he is totally blushing. My heart won't settle, but this time, I don't want it to. I give him a soft smile, he returns it. What to say now? Did he feel what I did when we kissed? This is just awkward post kiss silence now.

"Soooo, we should head back. It's getting cold and dark." Freddie says with a dumfounded look on his face, as he tries to think of something to say. I can't help to laugh a little because it is 1:30 in the afternoon and 74 degrees outside.

"Yeah, you're right. I should have brought a jacket in this weather, bad Sam." I joke and stand up from the bench.

"Yeah" Freddie laughs and gets up from the bench, "Come on" He says and holds his hand out. Now, I'm the one blushing as I take his hand in mine. My fingers fit perfectly in his. I can't believe this is really happening, I mean _me_ and _Freddie_ holding hands and becoming well…. Whatever we are to each other now… more than friends? Dating? Well, I can figure that out another time because right now this moment is perfect and in this moment all the craziness with Aaron just slips away and I honestly see now that it is going to be okay.


	17. Ready

**Ready**

**XXXXXXX**

"Hey you guys are back" Carly says as Freddie and I walk into the apartment.

"Yeah" I say and join her in the kitchen.

"Punch?" She asks and starts pouring glasses for us. "So what happened to you two? Guys just took off." I feel my face get hot, crap; I'm totally blushing right now. What do I tell her? Freddie and I kissed? Well I don't know how that would go down, but I can't lie to her. We promised to tell each other everything.

"I needed to get some air" Freddie says. He isn't going to tell her, is he?

"And then we kinda kissed" I add. Both Carly and Freddie choke a little on their punch. I think Freddie freaked because he wasn't expecting me to say anything and Carly freaked… well I mean come on, who wouldn't freak, I just said me and the dork kissed.

"Excuse me?" Carly chokes out.

"I said we ki_"

"Yeah yeah I heard you!" Carly spazzes, "Are you kidding?" Looking to Freddie for confirmation.

"No…. we did….ummmm kiss" He says quietly his face turning red. He is totally blushing!

"Oh my God… Oh my…." Carly starts ranting, "OH MY… Wha… how… OH MY GOD" She scurries around and grabs me by the hand, pulling me out of the kitchen and far enough away from Freddie where he can't hear us.

"How? When did this happen?" Carly whispers to me.

"I don't know we just went for a walk and we were talking, then we just kissed" I whisper back.

"What did you guys talk about?"

"I just asked him why he was doing this for me…. And then we just kissed"

"I knew it!" Carly says, "I told you Freddie was doing this for you! He does like you! I knew it, ever since we got back, I knew it!" She says gleefully with this crazy smile on her face.

"Carly, calm down." I say, smiling.

"So are you two like dating now?" She asks.

"Urrrgghh…. I don't even know. We'll just get this Aaron thing over first and then we will see" I say. I can't even think about what Freddie and I are going to do until this Aaron thing is gone. Man, I can't even think about Aaron without getting a horrible feeling in my stomach and all I think about is our run in earlier today.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea" She says.

"I know you two are talking about me" Freddie says from the kitchen. Carly and I both laugh and smile. We've been caught.

"I got it!" Spencer shouts through the apartment, coming out from his room to answer the phone that started ringing. "Hello?" He says answering the phone. "Yeah Sam is here" All of us focus our attention to the phone conversation upon hearing my name.

"Who is it?" I mouth to Spencer.

"Principal Franklin" He mouths back. "Yeah, I'm here Principal" Spencer says back into the phone. None of us can hear what Principal Franklin is saying on the other line. We just get Spencer's comments and expressions.

"I see" Spencer says in the phone. What does that mean? We all exchange looks trying to understand what is going on in this phone conversation. Spencer just mumbles and grumbles some responses, listening to whatever Franklin is saying.

"Yeah, I understand. Thank you Principal." Spencer says and hangs up the phone.

"Well?" I ask.

"Okay, so we can get a restraining order, but legally it can't go beyond that without real proof… but there is a problem." He says. We all look at each other, this can't be good. "Aaron is gone."

"Wait, what?" I ask.

"He never came home from school and his father has no idea where he is and can't get a hold of him. He is missing." Spencer says.

"So he ran off?" Freddie says.

"Yeah and they can't find him."

"That's just great" I say sarcastically.

"Everyone is looking for him. He couldn't have really gone anywhere so we will find him." Spencer says.

"Spencer's right and maybe if we are lucky he won't come back at all" Carly says. But let's face it, I'm never lucky.

**XXXXXX**

"_Carly?" I shout into the darkness. _

"_SAM! HELP!" I keep running and turning, I can't see anything. Where am I? Somebody please wake me up! I hear Carly scream behind me. _

"_Carls?" I shout. I turn and run, trying to feel for a wall to guide me or anything. Everything just feels endless._

"_You won't find her" I hear that voice say. _

"_Shut up!" I yell into the nothingness. _

"_You're too late" The voice says. It's a male voice. Freddie? No it sounds familiar but doesn't feel like Freddie. _

"_Where is she?" I shout. Then suddenly bright light fills the room, I squint my eyes to adjust to the light. "Hello?" I say. The room is completely white and the light is bounces off the walls, it is too bright in here. _

"_You're pathetic" The male voice says…. Wait that's not Freddie, that's__

"_Aaron" I say facing the voice. He stands there with a sly look on his face, but he doesn't look right… he almost doesn't look human. He looks possessed or something. There is a scar down his left cheek. How did he get that? And his eyes are blank and they look they could suck me into darkness._

"_Too late. She's gone" He says and suddenly he flies towards me and the whole room goes dark when he hits me. _

I gasp for air when I'm startled awake. Not again. I can't help to wonder why my dream changed. It wasn't Freddie anymore, but Aaron. That was by far the worst that dream has ever been. Great, I can't even get away from Aaron in my dreams.

**XXXXXXX**

"I can't believe we really had to come to school today" I whine at the lockers.

"We couldn't miss again and Aaron is not going to be here, there is a cop in the parking lot keeping watch and Principal Franklin has all the teachers on alert. It's going to be fine and if you think about it, school is probably the safest place. There is no way he would show up here." Carly says.

"I guess"

"Morning guys" Freddie says joining us.

"Hey Freddie" Carly says.

"Moring" I say.

"I'll leave you two aloonneeee" Carly says and starts to walk away.

"You're so weird!" I shout.

"Shut up and talk about you know what!" She playfully shouts back.

"Is she okay?" Freddie jokes.

"She has been all giddy since I told her we_" I stop and lean closer to him "kissed" I whisper.

"Oh yeah that" He whispers, making fun of me.

"What?" I ask.

"Why did you whisper, you aren't embarrassed are you?" He asks me.

"No" I say.

"Well then you shouldn't have to whisper it" He says.

"It's just…. It's not like we are like dating or anything right? So why have people know about it…" I say.

"We can change that"

"Change what?" I ask.

"Well… maybe we should… you know, date?" He says. I think the world just stopped… Freddie Benson just asked me out.

"Oh…." I say.

"I mean only if you want, we don't have to. You know… but if you want that will_"

"Stop rambling" I tell him, cutting off his nervous rant.

"Sorry" He quietly mumbles.

"Yeah, okay we should." I say.

"Wha—what?" He looks shocked.

"I'd like it if we you know…. dated." I say.

"Seriously?"

"Why so surprised?" I ask.

"Could you ever imagine this happening a couple months ago? I mean we are both talking about going out… _you and me. _It's kinda crazy" He says and smiles.

"Yeah it is, but then again we have been through a lot in the past couple weeks. I mean it's _all_ crazy" I say.

"Well we got something good from it." He says. I smile.

"Yeah, we did." I say, "Ummmmm…. So we should... uhhh... go to class now" I gesture towards the hall.

"Yeah" He says and takes a step to leave. "Sam, hold on" Freddie says stopping in front of me.

"What?"

He looks at me and brings his hand to my cheek. Wait, is really going to kiss me now, in school, in front of everyone? No Freddie would never do that, yet here he is leaning towards me. I can't believe this, but I also do nothing to stop it as I end up shutting my eyes when I feel our lips touch. The kiss is soft and gentle like before, I can't help but to enjoy it. We pull apart and I swear I heard a collective gasp from every student around us. I glace around and they are all awestruck, staring at Freddie and me.

"So time for class?" Freddie suggests with a smile.

"I can't believe you did that" I say surprised.

"Well now they all know" He says and starts walking away, towards class. "Oh and Sam," He says turning to face me, "You kissed back" He pointed out with a wink. Well someone's a little full of themselves, but I laugh because he is right. I just roll my eyes and follow him to class.

**XXXXXX**

"Okay you guys ready to go?" Carly asks us at the lockers.

"Yes, please get me out of here and on that couch" I say.

"Haha alright let's go" Carly says and we walk to exit.

"Sam, wait!" I hear someone call. I turn and see Gibby coming towards us.

"What's going on?" Freddie asks him.

"Sam, Ms. Harris wants to see you." He says and hands me a pass saying to go to Ms. Harris's office. That's weird, why does she need me at the end of the day? Whatever.

"Why?" Carly asks.

"Did they get something on Aaron?" Freddie asks.

"If any information was found about Aaron Principal Franklin would have alerted us all, not Ms. Harris." Carly says, answering his question. Freddie nods in agreement.

"Well I will stop by and see what she wants; it won't take long, she probably just wants to talk or do something that therapists do" I say, "Five minutes?"

"Okay, we will wait here" Carly says and I walk towards the office.

**XXXXXX**

"Ms. Harris?" I say and knock on her door. No answer. It's unlocked and I walk in, shutting the door. "Ms. Harris?" I question again. I scan around the room; she is not at her desk or by the bean bags. I walk further looking around everything and then knock on the door to the bathroom. "Ms. Harris?" No answer. She is not here. Why would she want to see me if she isn't even in here? I open the bathroom door and step in. Nothing. What a waste of time. I sigh and exit the bathroom. I stop dead facing the office door. He is there, blocking my only exit.

"So I heard you and that worthless Freddie are dating now" He snarls.

"And I heard you were missing" I say back. He just shrugs and gives a wry smile.

"Don't be like this Sam" He says, like he is talking to a child.

"Be like what Aaron?" I say back with the same tone as he.

"We are meant to be together" He says. I almost puke right there.

"You're insane" I spit at him, "How did you even get in here?"

"You think one cop in the parking lot and a couple of teachers could stop me from getting in here? It's kind of pathetic." He says and takes a step towards me.

"Don't come near me" I snarl at him. It's weird I don't feel scared around him anymore, all I feel is anger, pure anger. He stops but only for a second. I take a step back and to the side. There is no way I'm going to back myself into the wall. I feel like we are playing a game of cat and mouse, I'm staring him down and he looks too amused. Each time he steps towards me, I took one back and over.

"Do I make you nervous Sam?" He teases.

"You wish" I snap. He smiles wider and before I realize he is practically next to me and grabs hold of me. I go to scream but he puts a hand over my mouth.

"Shhhhhhh" He tells me. I swiftly kick him in the shin and push him back. I race for the door but he grabs on to my shoulders and throws me backwards to the floor. I hit the floor hard and it takes a couple seconds before I can focus again. I look up at him as he stares down at me.

"I don't like hurting you" He says, like throwing me to the ground was some twisted punishment for trying to leave him. I scan around the room trying to think of a plan, anything to try to get out of here. I need to get off this floor because everyone knows the ground is not somewhere you want to be when a crazy stalker attacks you. I'm not going to be able to fight him if I'm crawling around the floor, but if I get up; he can easily grab me again before I can fully stand. I glance back at him. He looks as though he read my thoughts; he knows I can't get up fast enough to do anything.

"You didn't have to do this Sam. We could have been together, we could have been everything; but you leave me for him. What a joke. You are mine, not his, mine" He says. Oh God…. My heart is thumping so hard, I swear Aaron can hear it. I need him to understand; maybe he is just literally crazy… I'm not a therapist but don't you need to speak rationally when someone else is freaking out? I don't know, but it could work.

"Aaron" I say firmly, "You are wrong. I am not yours. I don't belong to anyone, okay? Now you should just go before someone catches you." Wow, that was probably one of the lamest thing I could have said. Why did I even think that would be a good thing to say?

"But Sam, you are mine, you just can't see it yet…. But you will" He says and steps towards me. Crap, crap! My mind is running a thousand miles per second just looking for a way out when suddenly the door flies open. Freddie runs straight in a pushes Aaron away, hard into the wall. I see Aaron get cut back one of the hooks on the wall when he falls to the floor… a thin, long cut down his left cheek. All I can think about is my dream and that same exact scar.

"In here!" Freddie shouts completely winded like he ran here. Less than a second later two cops run in and grab Aaron.

"No you don't understand" He cries, "Sam? Sam, come on tell them! You all don't understand!" He shouts as the cops push him out the door. I turn to Freddie completely shocked, everything happened so fast.

"H—How?" I asked him. He gives me his hand and lifts me off the floor, into his arms.

"Carly and I ran into Ms. Harris outside school. She said that she never called you in to see her; she was on her way home. I knew something had to be wrong, so Carly yelled for the cops in the parking lot and I bolted here." He says.

"Freddie… I don't… I .." I can't even think of the words I could possibly say, but I know Freddie understands.

"It's okay. It's over." He says and pulls me into an embrace.

"So this is the second time you have rescued me" I whisper into his ear.

"All in a day's work" He jokes.

"Sam, what happened? Are you okay?" I see Carly running into the room. Freddie and I break apart.

"Hey, yeah everything is okay" I say and hug her. She squeezes me tight, I feel like I will never breathe again, but I wouldn't dare break this hug. Everything really is okay.

**XXXXXX Two Weeks Later**

"Sam, you ready?" Carly asks.

"Yeah, come on we only have a few minutes" I say back.

"I'll be up in a minute, Freddie is already in the studio, just tell him two more minutes" Carly says.

"Kay" I walk out of her room and up to the studio.

"Hey boyfriend" I say covering his eyes.

"Now I wonder who that could be" He jokes. We smile and share a small kiss. "You ready?" He asks.

"Born ready, Benson" I joke, "We haven't done iCarly for months and this week is going to rock"

"It feels like forever" Freddie says.

"Awwww, did you miss you tech cart?" I tease. He just rolls his eyes.

"It's just been awhile" He says.

"Well when your best friend gets kidnapped and then you have a crazy stalker on your hands things to tend to be looked over, like iCarly" I point out.

"Yeah, I think we have had enough crazy in our lives already. Any chance it will just be normal from here on out?" He asks. We both think about it for a bit.

"Not at all" We both say in unison.

"But we did get a lot of good from this" I say, "Carly's back, Aaron is behind bars, and we…. Well you know" I smile and gently kiss him. He laughs a bit.

"How much time?" Carly asks, coming through the door.

"30 seconds" Freddie replies.

"Sam" Carly gestures me over.

"Yup" I say and go stand next to Carly.

"Ready?" She asks.

"Ready"

"Okay guys we are on in 5…4…3….2….."

**XXXXXX**

**END**


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